Infernal Tempest
by Lovingyourillusion
Summary: And, in desperate times, desperate measures are taken. A group of reincarnated souls, born of a liberated Twilight Realm, returns at last to Hyrule and becomes ensnared in a malicious scheme alongside a reluctant and humble Hero, masquerading as an Advisor for the surreptitious Princess. A storm of legends is brewing on the horizon, threatening to destroy all in its path.
1. Chapter 1

The twilight was awfully quiet on that night, as she recalled.

Her feet were bare, crunching against the withered leaves from the trees above her. A heavy brass anklet jingled as she walked, the only sound in the silent forest garden. Her skirt whispered over her other ankle and her opposite thigh, feeling more like wind than anything else. On the back of her belt, the light golden band encircling her waist, fabric laced up her back and wrapped around her chest and then over her shoulders, connecting back gracefully. She didn't burden herself with a cloak tonight, preferring the cool air of her domain to send goosebumps over her skin. Her hair, like a fire in the dim light, tumbled over her shoulders in long waves.

The roses were a deep shade of purple, almost black. Nothing grew in an unnatural color in this realm. It was all a shade of the Twilight, the perpetual sunset in the sky above. She pondered this. Was it really such a curse to have the sky in such awe inspiring beauty? Ah, but she had never seen otherwise. The sky written about in her library described blue, a vivid, amazing blue. Nothing like the Sols that powered the cities here. Deeper, more lightheartedly colorful. Similar to the pink that laced across the sky on a clearer day here.

Footsteps sounded behind her. She did not turn to observe her visitor, but she started a little when gloved white hands laced over her shoulders to rest on her wrists. Icy breath whispered in her ear.

"Princess," he greeted her. He inhaled deeply.

"Lord Ghirahim," she addressed him, stepping forward, breaking his grasp. A wry smile danced over his thin features, stretching his white lips outwards. He knew that she was evading his advances. It was fine with him; he enjoyed the pursuit.. "Is there something that you want to talk about, or are you just annoying me again?" She turned to face him, smiling.

Ghirahim was an eccentric man. He was probably the most unusual man in the Twilight Realm, anyway. Everything he did had a sort of flourish; his attire, his appearance, his magic, even. His hair was white, in a blunt cut that sent it to his chin, covering half of his right eye. The rest was kept short and slick. He had deep purple eyes, like the roses that surrounded her. His face was thin and long, but not unattractive. Dark circles laced below his eyes, accentuated by a purple dye that was soaked into the skin like a tattoo. He wore a maroon red cloak, decorated with a chain with a few diamond designs on it. He preferred to wear that cloak on one shoulder, leaving the other bare, showing the white bodysuit that he wore below. Diamond cutouts showed his dusky gray skin. A golden sash decorated the lower half of his suit, contrasting with the red of the cloak that hung over his shoulder to graze his leg. Most of his arms were covered by the white fabric, gloving his hands.

"I've been searching for you, Midna. Your guards were worried, but they said that you enjoyed your little secret garden," he said, carefully stepping along the side of the path. "Where, indeed, you were."

His fingers pinched the stem of a rose. Immediately, the thorns disintegrated. He presented it to Midna, smiling again when she took it and placed it in her hair. "Why?" She asked, turning again and proceeding down the pathway. It curved into a spiral, with a small building in the middle of the garden. It was what she used to call the guest house; now, she used it for any private time that she wished to have. Roses and trees shaded the path from the dim twilight above, casting dark shadows.

"A few...friends, I suppose, had a proposition that I thought you may be interested in."

There was something in his voice that made her eyes flicker to his in a sudden movement. His voice was so sure, but he was looking elsewhere in the moment he stated his intent. Midna raised her eyebrows. "Go on."

"You know that there is a world linked to this one. One that the beings of Light dwell in."

The path turned again, revealing Midna's cottage, built of the same black smooth stone that coated her cities. It was the easiest thing to mine in the Twilight realm. The Sol that powered the building was attached above the doorframe, providing some eerie teal light as she approached. When her feet touched the start of the black patio-type outdoor area, the door slid upwards, into the designated slot for it. She motioned for Ghirahim to follow her inside.

Midna had always had a soft spot for color. Her cottage was more liberally decorated than her castle, with the wood in vibrant orange browns. The floor was stone, as well as the walls, but every table, bed, and counter was in the bright color. Instead of the traditional teal light of the Sol, she used its power to light chandeliers with fire. She enjoyed the flickering light of the flames to the cold glow of a Sol.

She walked over to her small table, pulling out a chair for Ghirahim and herself. He sauntered over to her and, deeming the chair far too normal, sat over the corner of table. He seemed to be deep in thought. "You've said that you want to visit there, one day."

"The Mirror of Twilight was destroyed long ago. It's just an empty chamber now."

"You are correct," Ghirahim said. "It was destroyed by your ancestor for whatever reason, long, long ago. Hundreds of years have passed. But in those years, I've met some fascinating people. They tell stories of dwelling in the light realm."

"I highly doubt that they're more than stories," Midna retorted. Her eyes, crimson and a sunshine yellow, were fixed on her visitor's face. He was relaxed now. He didn't shy away from her gaze.

"Ah, Princess, but they are. These friends of mine have been banished here by the fabled Sages. Within the past few years, I might add."

She raised her eyebrows, her tattoo on her forehead crinkling. She was surprised, indeed, and curious...but only the most heinous of criminals were banished here recently. "They're definitely no friends of mine."

"Oh, Midna, don't be ignorant. Remember that your ancestors were banished here, as well."

"Wrongfully. After the initial banishment, the Light Dwellers used to use this place as a dumping ground for their criminals. That is why, Ghirahim, we have the plains. They used to wander around lost until they finally _died_. No decent Twili wants anything to do with any of those criminals or their offspring."

Ghirahim threw his head back and laughed. Midna looked away, not caring for his dramatics. "Then why do you speak to me, Princess? My ancestor was not part of the initial group. He was banished soon after that."

"I don't mean to offend you, Lord Ghirahim, but you're one of the most powerful individuals in the Ashen province. I don't hate you or even dislike you, but I've always recognized your bloodline."

"As I recognize yours, Princess. _Anyway_, the point is...I understand that there is another mirror of Twilight. And I would truly love to have my dearest friend accompany me, the forsaken, to the realm of Light."

Midna turned her head to look at him. He was smirking at her.

"I want to meet your friends."

"Tomorrow. I'll escort you from the palace."

With a flash of red and gold diamonds, he was gone.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Also, this fanfiction is cowritten by fishylishy. All chapters have a mixture of our writing. **


	2. Chapter 2

Midna slipped the solitary sleeve of her dress over her shoulder.

"I'm glad that you decided to dress up," said Ghirahim, manifesting in a sharp flash of maroon diamonds. A nearby glass of water shattered, but he ignored it.

"How long have you been here?" Midna asked, not bothering to turn around from her mirror. She checked the stone slab in front of her for her cloak, but it was no longer resting there, instead being held out to her by Ghirahim, who was dressed in his usual bizarre attire.

"Long enough," he stated simply, smiling. Midna took her cloak from him and slipped it over her exposed arms and legs, letting it hang to her ankles. She was wearing simple sandals, dyed black; the straps reached to just below her knees. Her dress grazed her thighs just above the knee, starting at a midnight black and dimming into a dusky gray that matched Ghirahim's skin. It hung off of her loosely.

She rolled her eyes. "I always did think that you were a pervert. Where are we going?"

Ghirahim waited for the loud chimes of the city clock to cease, and then answered. "Another friend of mine, in Leaden City, has a venue that I took the liberty of reserving for this little meeting."

"Oh, I see," Midna said dryly. "This meeting is on _your_ turf."

"I just didn't want any of your friends to come by and overhear. They could very well take all of the fun out of this trip."

_Right,_ Midna thought. _No guards. In the Ashen Province. _The people in the northwestern province of the Twilight Realm hated her; they would have preferred the other candidate to her, and held a nasty grudge. "You're a piece of work, Ghirahim," she muttered, narrowing her eyes at him. He smirked. He was respected well enough there, though; she hoped that it would prevent a riot from breaking out. This was the lowest class of her kingdom, the banished; the ones that she had told Ghirahim were _no friends of hers._ Of course, Ghirahim himself was one of the forsaken. But she considered him an acquaintance, not a friend.

"Shall we?"

Ghirahim stepped away from Midna for a moment to snap; a section of the floor glowed with amber light. He offered the Princess his hand, was satisfied when she took it, and then disappeared with her into the Twilight sky.

The "venue" was a bar, lit by the small Sol that hung from the ceiling like a chandelier. Midna immediately felt out of place; the bartender, the only person visible to her when she materialized with Ghirahim, narrowed her eyes and glared at her. Very deliberately, she spat out a _saiee_, a hard and flavorful seed from a fruit that grows in the area, gazing at Midna the whole time.

Before Midna could do or say anything rash—she felt a sarcastic insult bubbling up inside of her-, Ghirahim tilted his head and raised his eyebrows at the bartender, who stalked away into the kitchen area. He wrapped his hand around Midna's wrist and led her to the end of the bar, further into the shadows than she would have liked. The exposed markings on her arms, legs, and shoulders, formed by channeling power from a Sol into her body, glowed feverishly cyan. Ghirahim pulled out two tall wood barstools and gestured for Midna to sit down. Still angry at the bartender, she launched herself up onto the stone counter and sat there, her legs dangling off of the bar. Ghirahim chuckled and sat where she was going to, her legs brushing against his side as he turned his body to face the two other patrons, sitting next to them.

One was clearly a Twili. His skin was a mix of the Dusk province's royal blue—Midna's heritage—and the Ashen province's dull gray. He had the characteristic long neck and narrow head, with yellow burning eyes without any indication of a pupil (definitely Ashen province) and wispy purplish gray hair. Everything about him was tall and thin. His skin, like Midna's, had black areas, one lacing up his shoulders and partially up his neck. It was a mark of great heritage, normally restricted to royalty, because royalty carried on a distinctive appearance that was reaffirmed after decades of selective marriages. _He must belong to the Ukkan, _Midna realized. This was the other royal family. She belonged to the Ceroqua. He wore a simple blue dress shirt and thick black leggings beneath a deep purple cloak that he drew around himself like a shield.

The other man was shorter, but equally thin. His skin matched Ghirahim's—unusual, because the Dusk province's norm was much darker—but his hair was his most interesting feature. It was a light lavender color, unheard of in the Twilight Realm. It was long, reaching his shoulders, parted in the middle and slicked back from his face. His eyes were a shiny red, looking similar to Midna's in that way. The whites of his eyes, though, were not yellow, like hers; they stayed true to the name. He wore a long sleeved gray tunic beneath his amethyst cloak. A black mark beneath his right eye drew her interest, as well. It looked like a tattoo, midnight and shaped like a talon.

"It's a scar," he said, noticing Midna's interest. "Magic does one hell of a number on a person's face."

"I think she understands," said the Twili, his eyes roaming over her arms and legs. They still glowed dimly. "I don't believe that you were here when she did that to herself."

Midna, slightly uncomfortable, laughed nervously. She remembered the day that she did, in fact, give herself the glowing marks on her body. There had been an audience, as usual; she guessed that the Twili had been there. Seeing the other man's interest, she started to explain. "I was dueling for leadership—two candidates are chosen, normally one from royal blood and one of great magical ability—when I summoned some magic that was a little out of my league."

Ghirahim, turning his head to look at her from his peripheral vision, grinned. "I was there," he said. "She summoned power from the Capitol City's main Sol. It was a truly amazing sight, to see the magic physically manifest on her body."

"It hurt like hell," she interrupted, earning some genuine laughter from the three of them. "I'm Midna, as you both probably know," she introduced herself. The men beside her all smirked.

"Zant and Vaati, at your service, Your Highness," Vaati, the shorter man, said. He inclined his head, as though he were bowing. "Has Ghirahim informed you of our expedition plans?"

"Not exactly," Midna said, her leg swinging a little harder to bump Ghirahim's arm. He pursed his lips. "You come from the Realm of Light. I'd like to hear more."

"I do," Vaati said. "He's been here a while," he continued, indicating Zant and earning an indifferent shrug. "I was banished from the Light Realm about a year ago, after the Sages found me."

"Why were you expelled? How? Where did you end up?"

"The Sages don't take well to outsiders," Vaati explained. He even gave Midna a small smile as he evaded most of her question. "They hate the Twili. They said that I was inherently evil, banished to the Twilight Realm hundreds of years ago for the good of the Children of Light." Ghirahim snorted. Vaati continued. "I told them that that was the past, that I never even knew my ancestor who was banished. But they didn't care. They said that _I_ was evil. Me."

Zant, who had remained silent, spoke up. "It seems that the Sages didn't care to elaborate further."

Midna piped up. "Is that when you got that scar?"

Vaati nodded, tracing his long, pale fingers over his face. "I ended up in the Plains."

"That's where I found him," Zant spoke again. "He was nearly dead, trying to crawl to the edge and kill himself. Couldn't even muster the strength to move the last few feet."

Midna suddenly felt _very_ self-conscious about her remarks to Ghirahim about the Plains being there for a reason. Vaati definitely didn't seem like someone that she'd like to starve to death in the desolate dry lakebed of the Plains. She'd been there once or twice, just looking out over the miles and miles of dry cracked dirt. She could imagine the taste of dust in a dry mouth, the feeling of dragging yourself along, in search of the edge of the floating continent. It was hundreds of feet down to the ocean below. Death would have been quick, compared to the misery of dying of thirst. She sincerely hoped that Ghirahim wouldn't mention anything about their conversation yesterday.

"These Sages sound real nice," said Midna, changing the topic. "And what, you want to go back? Why? What's so great about this Light Realm?"

Vaati ran his hand through his hair slowly, contemplating. "Revenge."

His voice was low and flat, devoid of any empathy. Her eyes widened for a moment, stunned at the sudden quiet rage that emerged from the thin man next to her. Vaati's red eyes met hers, fixing her gaze to his face, and then he smiled. There was no amusement in it.

She immediately withdrew her earlier decision about his character.

Ghirahim coughed. Vaati's gaze wandered away again and his face relaxed. Midna, though she could only see part of her companion's face, thought that he had glared at Vaati. Zant broke the silence. "I only aim to observe. I want to see the sun."

He was not a good liar.

Ghirahim, feeling Midna's alarm growing, took over speaking. "I wanted to include you on our plans to possibly create an agreement between the realms, Midna. Vaati has a problem with the Sages, correct, Vaati? Ah, yes, you see. He will deal with that himself. It's only one of them, really, just the one that struck him and left him that scar. So, Princess, what do you say? Will you join us to connect the realms again?"

Midna, still spooked from Vaati's malicious smile, shook her head. Her true answer was undecided, but she needed to think alone for a while. She could feel the tension in the room building against her, and decided to make her exit. "I'm sorry," she began, "but I don't think this is a good idea. I'm outta here."

She hopped off of the bar and pointed at the floor. A swirling cyan portal opened, and she stepped into it, fading out of the room in a glow of light. Vaati, Zant, and Ghirahim stared at where she had warped from, expressions differing from confused to angry to amused.

Ghirahim laughed. "Don't worry, my friends," he said. "She'll reconsider."

Vaati and Zant both raised their eyebrows. Ghirahim smiled, snapped, and faded as well.

Midna didn't bother to change her clothes, even as the clock tower struck midnight (as usual, a misnomer; the only function for time in the Twilight Realm was so people could schedule events). Her castle was silent, everyone sleeping in their chambers. She had warped into her bedroom with the intention of laying silent in bed and contemplating the idea of going to the Light Realm, but she was interrupted when she heard Ghirahim's telltale laughter; how he had beaten her to her own bedroom via warping was lost on her.

"Midna, Midna, Midna," he chuckled, stepping out of the shadows to appear to her side. She didn't move from where she was standing, just in front of her bedroom door. He smirked. "You certainly know how to make an impression, don't you?"

"So does your friend Vaati. He's a real charmer," she retorted. She laughed. "Ghirahim, they want to take over the Realm of Light."

"Perhaps," he replied calmly. "But they know that I won't let that happen."

"Then why don't they go on their own? Or, why don't you go with them without me?"

"That, my dear, is an excellent question, one that perplexed me for a few days before I finally found the pitiful answer. And the answer is..."

Instead of continuing, he had snapped, appearing a few feet away at her bedside: "They cannot go without you." Again he snapped and manifested directly behind Midna, leaning over her, looming like a stormcloud. "And I won't let you go without me," he finished, snapping once more and appearing to lean against the door to her chamber, his eyes boring into hers, only a step away.

"And why is that?" she asked, her head high and proud, even though a new sensation was spreading through her body. It was a wary feeling. She was on edge from the scene at the bar, and Ghirahim's following her didn't exactly make her feel comfortable. She took a step to the side and leaned up against the other stone wall, still facing him.

He was a good man to know, with good connections to the Ashen Province and a fair amount of knowledge. But he had been pursuing her since the first time they had met, when she was a young fourteen and him only a tad older at sixteen. He had gotten more bold over the years. And as the years went on, she knew that she didn't love him, though that didn't feel like the right word; Ghirahim didn't _love_ anyone. But he certainly wanted her. He greedily lusted after her, longing to possess her as though she were a piece of beautiful pottery in a collection. And the feeling, though at times amusing to her, was one sided.

"Oh, I think you know," Ghirahim replied. He smiled his wry smile at her. "Without your power or mine, those two cannot escape the Sages once they materialize in the realm of Light."

She couldn't help it. "And you won't let me go without you."

"Correct."

"Why?"

"I would feel positively dreadful if harm were to come of you," he said. His words were carefully chosen.

"That makes zero sense, Ghirah-," Midna started to reply. She stopped when she saw him push off of the door. He closed the distance between them quickly, taking the one step that separated them and then leaning over her, placing one arm against the wall beside her head and letting the other hand trail down her exposed arm.

Memories rushed back at her.

A year previous, Midna had been in her garden, alone, drawing up plans for expansion of the Capital City. She had sat down on a bench to think for a while, and was interrupted by Ghirahim, as usual. This time, he did something that she had never expected and definitely should have; he leaned over her and kissed her, slow and gentle like any lover would. Without even thinking, she broke free of him, sending her open palm into the center of his chest and propelling him backwards with a nasty dose of Twili magic. He had laughed about it, and probably would laugh about it now if she mentioned it, but she learned something valuable about herself that day. And that was this: she didn't love him, and no amount of romance would change it. And she knew that he knew it, too; he just assumed that she would grow tired of stopping his advances.

She backed up against the wall, as far away from him as she could get—not very far—and grinned softly. Quietly, she murmured, "Don't you remember? This didn't work last time."

"Ah, yes, you're right," he murmured back, not moving. "Hopefully, this time, you won't attack me..."

Midna ducked out from underneath his arm and took a seat on the foot board of her bed. "Don't make me, then," she said, forcing a laugh. She knew that his ego had already taken a hit, and she did need to keep on good terms with him. And she had to admit that the idea of going to the Light Realm was appealing.

"Very well," he replied. He turned to face her, a very small hidden grin playing over his features. "What say you? Will you join me?"

"On a few conditions."

Ghirahim waited.

"You have to get them agree, as well. No one can kill anyone. No killing. Gotcha? That includes your psycho friend Vaati. No stealing. No attacking people. No bad behavior. As the Twilight Princess, I get to judge what good and bad behaviors are. If we do this, you, me, and your friends are all ambassadors of this realm and need to behave as such," Midna listed. She watched Ghirahim's face turn to a radiant smile that stretched his lips thin over his teeth. "When do we go?"

"Three days should be enough to make the preparations."

Ghirahim snapped and spun on his heel, about to enter another warp portal, but stopped when Midna addressed him. "And Ghirahim," she said, "that stunt you tried to pull just now...that's definitely bad behavior."

He turned to her, his smile unchanged, and outstretched his arms, palms up. He stepped back into the portal, saying, "Yes, Princess."


	3. Chapter 3

"But Princess, what about your safety?"

**"**Please," she laughed, waving her hand dismissively at the High Judge that she was putting in charge of her kingdom while she was away. He still looked worried, so she snapped—an unneeded cue, much like Ghirahim's—and a long glowing sword appeared in her hand, wavy with ethereal light and color. Midna gripped the handle and expertly threw a fresh fruit from the basket at her bedside in the air, slicing through it twice before it hit the ground in a grand show of skill. "I'll be fine."****

The High Judge, Lian, smiled wearily. He was handsome, very alike to her in appearance; tall, thin, with fiery red hair and royal blue skin. His facial features were soft, mousy, which didn't lend any clue to his profession as Head High Judge, the first appointed by Midna. He sentenced criminals for a living. "You'd just like me to stand in for you in any meetings of governors and make any public appearances in your place, correct?"****

"Yep," Midna affirmed. "If something bad happens, take any immediate action that needs to happen into your own hands, and then shatter this," she continued. She passed Lian a miniature Sol. It was palm sized and lightweight, glowing with a blue vital light. "I have one as well. If yours shatters, mine will, too. Be careful, though. I'm going to be mad if you break it accidentally. And hey," she started, "make sure no one follows me. I'll do my best to block off the Plains, but I need you to give express warnings telling people that they can't come with me."****

Lian nodded and the two said their goodbyes. In a swirl of cyan and green, Midna faded from the great hall of her castle.****

It took her a long time to warp to the Plains. She wasn't familiar with the exact area that the group was meeting at, so she had to try to guess her way around. She had always found warping to be one of the most difficult magic practices, especially to a place she wasn't familiar with or in small areas (Ghirahim's specialty). She knew that they were meeting beneath the broken remains of the Mirror of Twilight, which had been moved hundreds of years ago, island and all, to rest above the Plains. It seemed that the Sages could activate it as a one-way portal even if it was broken, so instead of having another Realm's rejects land in the middle of the Capitol City's square, they moved it above the desolate dry lakebed on the edge of the main island (truly, it was a floating continent, far above the ocean below).****

Eventually, she sensed Ghirahim's familiar aura nearby and stopped her bodiless flying. She materialized next to him. "She's arrived," he announced, smiling at her. Vaati and Zant stood in front of the Princess and the oddly dressed Noble. In between the group sat four brightly glowing Sols. "Vaati's prepared the spell."****

Midna didn't know anything about the spell, besides the fact that it was going to repair the shattered Mirror. The blank dusty ground, dyed orange in the perpetual sunset, stretched out before the group for miles. The old Mirror Chamber hovered in the air, a hundred or so feet above them. "What are we doing?"****

"For now," Vaati said mildly, "I need everyone to step in this portal"-he paused to open a portal to his side-"and grab a Sol."****

"Where did those come from?"

"I bought them," Vaati said dismissively.

Midna was incredibly hesitant to follow orders from someone she perceived as a psychopath, but she did it anyway. She picked up a Sol, tucking it under her arm and walking to the portal. It was jagged, laced with moving purple lines like lightning inside of the blackness. Not without mild fear, she stepped into it.****

She blinked, and was standing on the very edge of the old Mirror island, overlooking the Plains. Ghirahim and Zant stood on either side of her, with Vaati on the corner. He began to direct them: "Put your Sols down and cross your arms tight across your chest. Like you mean it, Midna. There. Okay, now repeat what I'm saying. It's not...pleasant, not for any of us, at least. But the things that you're naming are going to be angrier about it than you are."****

Midna turned her head and shot a very confused look at Vaati and then Ghirahim. Both shrugged, and Vaati began to speak. "Hear us, Goddess Nayru!"****

The name tasted foul on the tongues of the Twili. No one enjoyed calling upon the Goddesses that banished them to a life of eternal dusk.****

"We call upon your power now in our hour of need."****

The group repeated it. Zant looked as though he was going to retch, Ghirahim was looking amused, and Midna was saying the words begrudgingly.****

"Through your wisdom, allow us to pour out our spirits in the form of water."****

A glowing ring manifested a few feet in front of the group, looking like a halo made of smoke. It hung there, suspended. Vaati continued, "Goddess Nayru, grant us the skill to complete our spell."****

The group struggled out the last phrase, and it was silent for a few precious seconds. Their hands, clenched into fists against their shoulders, began to feel slick. Following Vaati's example, they relaxed their stance and stared in wonder as dewdrops formed on their palms. The water began to pool there and run off of their fingers, dripping onto their clothes and the ground below.****

Midna inhaled, and the water flow increased, creating a small fountain that flowed directly from her palm. She could see Vaati aim his outstretched hands at the ring that appeared earlier. The group followed suit and watched as the water was drawn into the halo. It pooled there for a moment, and reached its full capacity. On the other side of it, it spilled out tenfold, amplifying the amount of water into a huge waterfall. It cascaded down to the lakebed and pooled beneath the island—the low point.****

"Get to a corner! Grab a Sol!" Vaati ordered. Midna gripped hers and dashed to the corner nearest to her, almost tripping over her own feet. Her hands had stopped flowing water and the ring had disappeared, leaving the realm still once more. She glanced back at Vaati, who, after seeing everyone at a corner, began to wave his arms like a conductor.****

The waters below stirred ominously, turning and turning and becoming a whirlpool directly below the island the group stood on. The water didn't change level, but had a huge circular current. "Throw the Sols!"****

Midna tossed hers over the edge carefully, watching with curiosity as it hit the water below and shattered, like the water was much more solid than it should have been. Glowing blue powder mixed in with the clear liquid. The other Sols broke as well, leaving huge streaks of cyan in the water. Vaati motioned again and the water began to be drawn to the middle.****

The Sol's essence was made of a powder that was mined in the Sunset Province, the northeastern area of the Realm. It was naturally fluorescent and came out in large chunks that were then ground into a dust and placed inside of a glass orb. It had incredible power, enough to power a whole house for years, and wasn't flammable or dangerous. It had always been a mystery to the Twili. It was becoming clear to Midna that it had more properties than she had imagined; it was mixing with the water to create a large blue spiral whirlpool.****

When water was dragged down into the spiral, it left a dark shiny coating on the lakebed that it was leaving behind. As the waters were sucked in, they congealed at the lowest point, the center of the whirlpool. It remained there until a huge wind picked up, which Vaati was now freely controlling. He created a powerful circular spinning, lifting the glowing water into a huge waterspout.****

As the water ascended, the wind began to draw Midna and the others off of the island. They needed no warning to hold on to something, but the Mirror Chamber was open, with a flat seal on the ground and a huge slab of stone where the portal was supposed to be. The actual mirror was destroyed on the Light Realm side, confusing Midna even further on how this spell was going to work.****

Zant stumbled over near the slab of stone, and Vaati shouted, "No! Stay on a corner! Don't go near the center!" Zant dragged himself on all fours back to the side, gripping for dear life. Ghirahim and Midna had no problem getting to their knees and digging their hands on to the hard rock edge. The wind whipped the Princess's hair into her eyes and reflected the direction of the winds.****

With a huge shudder, the water was drawn upwards through the island, looking like a bright blue deadly tornado. It began to mold itself into a small Sol-sized ball, hovering a few feet above the flat seal entryway. Another large tremor was felt as it rushed back down and collided with the seal, coating it in the black glassy substance like the lakebed, then hit the slab of stone, and finally crashed into the ground beside Vaati. It was raised once more, the wind becoming stronger as the substance solidified, and then formed a tall, flat, circular object, solid as any stone.****

The wind stopped, and Ghirahim was the first to speak. "Did it work?" He asked, standing and sauntering over to the newly formed Mirror. As he approached, it glowed bright blue, more powerful than any Sol.****

"The reason why the Mirror wasn't placed in the Twilight Realm immediately was because it didn't have enough light. The Sols should have fixed that problem," Zant realized, standing as well. All of the group gathered around the glowing sheet of solid Sol water.****

"Two parts mage, one part chemist," Vaati announced, stretching his arms behind him and then cracking his knuckles. The sound made Midna wince.****

Ghirahim, flanked by Midna and the rest, walked up to the now glassy seal. It hadn't glowed in hundreds of years since the main power supply had been shattered, but now started to light up with the blue light of a Sol. The flat mirror that stood in the corner was projecting light at the slab of stone, which was being reflected back to the seal...****

With amazement, Midna watched the ethereal staircase come to life in front of them.****

"Wait," she said, turning around to face Zant and Vaati. "Others are bound to come looking, official warning be damned."****

Ghirahim smiled. "Allow me," he said, facing the edge of the island. With another unnecessary snap, a huge border of red and gold diamonds was erected. "No one will break that."****

It was as though the air around them sizzled with the finality of those words, letting the reality of what Midna was about to do sink in. She took a deep breath and gestured for Ghirahim to head up the stairs first.****

Vaati laughed. "But Midna, ladies first." ****

She frowned. "I have a feeling that something isn't going to go right on the other side of the mirror. Like there's some freaky beast waiting to devour us as soon as we materialize. So, no, I insist. Gentlemen first."****

A chuckle arose from Ghirahim, with Zant remaining oddly silent.****

"No freaky beasts. But the Sages will be awaiting our entrance on the other side," Ghirahim explained, casting a side glance at the wind mage.****

Vaati cracked his knuckles once more and Midna shivered. "All the more reason to let you burly guys go first. Really. I'm right behind you." ****

"As you wish, Princess," Ghirahim said. ****

He stepped up the stairs, translucent yet as solid as any true marble, and walked straight into the glowing vortex, disappearing into a thousand black particles and spinning through the chamber. ****

Zant silently followed suit, without even a backwards glance towards the Twilit Kingdom, which gave Midna more than one reason to be concerned with his mindset. Still, Vaati bounded up the steps after them. "See you on the other side, then," he said, casting a quick two-finger salute and fading into black rain.****

With all of them gone, Midna let out a shaky laugh, taking one last look at her kingdom behind Ghirahim's barrier. _No use in chickening out now, _she thought bemusedly, lightly dancing up the crystal steps and walking towards the portal until the oblivion drained her world to blackness, shielding her eyes from the world of Light that she would materialize into on the other side.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The Crown Princess of Hyrule sensed a change in the air.

Zelda tried to focus, to slow the images flashing in her mind long enough to get a good idea of what they depicted, but the rearrangement felt distant; like someone, somewhere, _somehow_altered the arrangement of the moon and the sun, the sense of gravity, blood smelling like flowers. Like someone had flipped a coin previously heads up. But ultimately, she could not name the sensation, the change of trade winds, and the images in her mind faded like smoke dispelled by sunlight. She sighed, frustrated.

It was one more thing that she would feel sneaking in the shadows, always there but as soon as she turned, it would be gone. Merely distracting her, sent as an agent of chaos with a sole goal of breaking her down from the inside out.

Because as cunning, witty, and brilliant as Zelda was, and as good of a sorceress as she was, she knew that somewhere, someone was hunting her, from within her own city walls. It was only a matter of time between she found herself with a knife in her chest or a sword through her back.

And someone, somewhere, was coming to join the fight. Against her or with her, she did not know.

She frowned, the thought immensely disturbing her. She had her suspicions about who was trying to send a dagger at her, the city's _Rosulyla. . ._well, she didn't want to call them a mafia, because _mafia _suggested some sort of class, of dignity. Rosulyla was ruthless, bloodthirsty, and far too violent to be considered a mafia, but much too...styled to be a gang. Their leader-the government's public enemy number one-went by Ganon.

A shudder ran up her spine at the thought of the man she had only seen once, when she was much, much younger. He wasn't in charge, he was just a gangster at the time. She was ten years old. It was a street fair. And, looking back on it, she could still smell the singed hair and iron of blood that filled the streets after the strange, red-haired, red eyed, dark skinned, bulky man in black made eye contact with her and set the citizens behind him ablaze.

That was his first devious act, the first she had witnessed, and it was so horrifying and yet so random that Zelda would have thought nothing of it-thought he had forgotten her-but when she took the crown, he took power in the organized mob and it wasn't common for his group to issue statements calling for the death of nobles, military commanders, females who wandered outside without offering their bodies, men who wouldn't give up all of their earnings...and, most importantly, the Royal Family.

And she knew that he remembered her. When their eyes had met, ever so briefly and what felt like ages ago though it was barely nine years ago, she had felt something. Something that made her feel impossibly small and unimportant, like he had seen her a thousand times before.

As though they had stood across from each other many times, watching the streets fill with blood.

And, in the recent weeks, with the yearly elections coming up, (the one thing that she didn't have to worry about; her position was permanent) her counselors had been occupied with getting reelected. They obsessed over it. Not much had changed, though, as the Councilmen had been re-elected for seven years. There were two Chamber Councils with two members each; all of which who would consult with lower-level city council or countryside council members of local legislation, and then, with new knowledge and opinions and bias, they would consult Zelda in a large monthly meeting. They were always trying to convince her to say this, do that, go there, don't do this. They all disagreed, too. They were always angry about their lack of power; Zelda had made it clear that she would make no changes to the arrangements made, the ones that made it impossible for the Councils to make large choices without her approval. Their power was perceived by the public; they could strike fear into the hearts of any citizen and make friends with higher ups in the Army or Hylian Guard.

Zelda, again, sighed, feeling the beginnings of a headache. The political situation was, at best, not optimal; at worst, descending into chaos. The people were incredibly divided, and it showed in the elections of the Chamber Councilmen. In fact, both councils were dominated by different political axes. The First Chamber was headed by two older men who identified their political affiliations as Bachests: who believed that individual action was the only thing that mattered, that guards and soldiers should stay out of people's lives and that the crime rate was a reflection of anger at government authority. The Second Chamber was the polar opposite: believing in massive state, police, and military authority, regulation in every aspect, and "peaceful" methods of officers pursuing criminals. She snorted. Most of the military and policemen didn't even carry heavy weapons-just batons or whips- due to their fear of "powerful" Second Chamber counselors.

The political gridlock was dreadful and news had become unreliable, tainted with propaganda. One couldn't even walk into a tavern without hearing somebody get up on a soapbox and start an argument. All of this, angering the people, pitting them against each other, and letting children starve to death in the streets that the Rosulyla frequently salted with arson and magic duels. Zelda, a strong believer in the Goddesses and their goodness, had tried to branch more social outreach and put more temples into the poorer areas of the city and country, yet even that failed to help the situation.

She vaguely wondered if she could ever escape this political mess. If she could leave through the town's southern gate, venture out into Faron Woods and live off of the land. Perhaps she could go to the west-to the burning Gerudo desert-or to the east, with the wide open prairies and the scorching mountains of Gorons-maybe to the north, to the Zora Domain and the snow capped mountains. Maybe just outside of the city, the recreational Lake Hylia, though it was far too commercial. She couldn't hide there.

Zelda laughed quietly, though she didn't feel humored. There was no place she could hide. With angry politicians breathing down her neck, criminals after her head, and a country of divided souls to care for...no, no place was safe from the shadows stalking her. But it would do no good for her to die, to leave the city in ruins, so Zelda called down the hallway for a guard and asked him to summon General Ralis, the head of the Hylian Army, which subsequently owned Hyrule Castle City Guard.

She sat in her windowsill in her ornate bedroom, adorned with rich blue furniture and golden gilding, and waited for him. But he came quickly; the unusually young military commander who was the son of the late Zora Ruler was a quick man. His fish-hybrid body with weak blue skin was flushed-he must have been outside-but he smiled, nevertheless.

"Good morning, Princess," Ralis greeted her. "How may I help you?"

She smiled warmly in return. "Good morning to you as well, Ralis. I'm afraid I've been a little uneasy lately."

The Zora frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that. How can I assist you?"

Zelda bit her lip for a minute. "I'm authorizing one of your men to do a private investigation into our Chambers, as well as our state of affairs in the country. As per the usual conduct of the private investigations...let's keep it quiet."

Ralis raised an eyebrow, face adorned with square tattoos of the Zora Domain, resting under his brow bone. "But didn't we just do our yearly private affairs investigation...what, three months ago?"

_Curse his memory, _she thought, but ultimately remembered that good rulers keep track of what they order. "Well...yes. But I've got a newfound interest in some particular affairs." Changing the subject, she said, "I need someone young, someone new, who isn't well known. Preferably someone strong. Someone who isn't afraid of a lot of things. Who can learn. Preferably not married-too many ties. Maybe someone who was recruited outside of Castle Town. Do you have anybody in mind?"

The General thought it over, but just shrugged and nodded. "I have a young guy. Left one of the small farming towns near Faron when he wasn't needed any more. . .guess he decided it'd be better to try and live in Castle Town. I know how that goes." He paused, thinking of more details. "He passed our physical and mental tests with flying colors. . .he's good with a sword, alright in hand-to-hand, and can at least aim a bow. He also seems pretty smart."

"Is he a mage?"

"I don't think so. So few are," Ralis replied. "Shall I have him summoned?"

"Please. I'll expect him within an hour. Thank you for not asking questions, Ralis. What is this young man's name?"

He laughed. "Sort of a silly name. Link."

Something about, that, too...like the feeling of having heard that name before. Another shadow, another piece of doubt that would be hanging around, another change in the air. But Zelda was wise enough to smile. "Alright, then. I'll see him soon."

And the air was certainly alive with changes that day.


	4. Chapter 4

It was an immediate difference, her particles dancing through the warp of the mirror, atmosphere somehow drier, lighter, hotter. A change in the air that marked their entrance to the Light Realm, something unnamed and yet so prevalent that it was almost an element in itself.

Midna felt her body form again, her feet flat on the ground, her arms flat at her sides. Going through the Mirror wasn't terribly unlike a normal transportation spell, perhaps even less dizzying because it went _horizontally_. She was not disoriented, at least, until she opened her eyes.

****The light was familiar; it was ...twilight. A single sun-brighter than any Sol she had ever seen-dipped down on the horizon, its fading rays drawing out light and dying the sky an array of colors. Purple and red laced across the sky, intertwined with familiar orange and the faintest hint of pink. Big, fluffy clouds, dyed in the colors of sunset, hung suspended in the air.

This atmosphere disappointed her. She had wanted to see that beautiful sky blue that the books in her library spoke of, yet no trace of it hung above her in the colorful splashes of sky, alike to her realm yet so very different. More...vivid. It felt more real.

****In front of her, the same ethereal staircase that had been their apparatus on the other side of the Mirror stretched to a sandy-colored stone platform, where Vaati, Zant, and Ghirahim stood. They were looking around, too, eyes ablaze with curiosity, awe, and wonder. The area they stood in was the Light Realm's Mirror Chamber, a large circular area, open to the sky. Everything was a washed out, dull, sandstone white. Large columns and arches loomed above them, casting shadows that flickered like flames. Further on, behind the arches, a path stretched out, leading to a small staircase that continued to wrap around the circular structure.****

A noise, like an ancient withered cough, came from the ground in front of the platform. Five glowing figures had appeared there. Their entire bodies were white, transparent in some parts. They donned robes and masks, depicting old, old men. Midna was impressed. How old were they? What magic prevented them from fading away like dust? She joined her group at the bottom of the stairs, stepping out in front of them, down onto the first step off of the platform. She outstretched her arms; a peace offering, much to the distaste of her companions. She could practically _hear_Vaati seeth behind her. ****

_Sucks to not be in charge, buddy, _she thought, before the glowing figures interrupted her mind.****

"O Twilight Princess," they said in unison, their voices archaic. "You have tampered with destiny by entering this realm. By the power of the Golden Goddesses, we command you to leave this place."****

Midna's voice was fierce, coming out rough with offense and shock. "That's friendly. I dragged my butt here and you don't even give me a nicey-nice diplomatic greeting?"

These figures, who she figured to be the Sages, simply looked at her silently.

She sighed. "Let me clarify. Destiny means nothing to me. Nor do your stupid Golden Goddesses. If they had wanted us to stay put, they would have made it impossible for us to come back here in the first place."

****A collective gasp was heard. "Blasphemy," they whispered, shaking their heads as though they were sad. "Turn back."****

Midna, newly determined with their clearly hostile attitudes, smiled. "If destiny truly wishes us gone...we would have already left. But we're still here, so deal with it."****

With a collective wheezing sigh, the five old Sages raised their hands out in front of them. Again murmuring together, they said words of the old language, old Hylian. Midna frowned, standing still, unable to imagine any act of violence from the fragile looking old men, but Ghirahim quickly understood their intentions and lunged forward, grabbing her by the wrist and yanking her roughly off of the platform in front of him. She stumbled, but caught herself. Incredulous at the sudden motion and the failed diplomacy, she whirled around to see where Vaati and Zant had gone.****

Ghirahim threw his hand out, red and gold diamonds dancing off of his fingertips at the centermost Sage. The old man, with speed that didn't match his ancient appearance, zoomed to the side and back, becoming only a white glowing blur. Suddenly, the Sages stopped their murmuring and closed their hands. ****

Vaati leapt upwards, far too high for any human to achieve, aided by a strong gust of wind that he created. He landed high up on the top of the chamber. Zant, however, had not jumped out of the way. With a pained cry, a strong wave of white magic knocked him off of his feet. Another Sage pointed at him. In a large fireball, white flames flew at him. Vaati, using another gust of wind, sent the fireball into a nearby wall. Ghirahim disappeared in a show of diamonds and appeared behind the attacking Sage, sending a tall vertical row of red projectiles at him. The sage avoided most of them, sidestepping as one of the others had done earlier, but was grazed by one. No cry escaped him and no wound manifested. ****

Midna quickly understood that this was no winning fight; the Sages had been created not to feel pain and their bodies, while appearing lifelike, were not real. The projectile had split through the white matter of the Sage's robe, dispelling it for a small moment. After that, the white particles joined back together. ****

_Screw it, _she thought. _Time for an escape distraction._****

Zant, apparently on a similar wavelength, jumped to his feet and threw his weight off of the platform. With a quick hand motion, the area he had just been standing on exploded in a fiery blast, destroying part of the sandstone. The broken Mirror of Twilight fell off, clattering to the floor. The Sages concentrated on him now, sending an array of spells at him; white light, white fire, white vines, white mist, and a transparent sheet of something. ****

Vaati leapt down from his perch, landing upon the back of one of the sages, the one that had released the odd transparent spell. He put his feet on the ground behind the Sage, his arm wrapped around the old man's throat. The Sage sputtered and clutched at empty air. He tried to redirect the spell that he had cast towards Zant back at Vaati, but a strong wind repelled it. Vaati pulled the man backwards, dragging him along, and then dropped him. The Sage wasn't hurt, but gasped for breath like any human would. "Damn you!" Vaati cried, sending a purple blast of magic at him. The Sage still didn't flinch. ****

Another explosion turned the Sages' attention to a far corner. Ghirahim, Midna, and Zant started to rush to the edge of the chamber, towards the stairs. Vaati had manifested a long bladed sword, with a glowing silver blade and an intricate purple hilt. Along the length of the blade, several small spike-like parts made it an even more vicious weapon. He was above the Sage, about to drive it into him, wide eyed and dazed. Ghirahim broke from Midna and Zant to rush at Vaati and grab him by the back of his shirt, dragging him with them, down the cascading stairs. ****

**"**_Ghirahim_! Let me _go!_**" **Vaati screeched, his voice echoing up the building. The Sages didn't appear to be following them, but the four didn't stop running until they reached the end of the wide staircase. A stone door, faded to the same dull white of the arches that surrounded them, blocked the rest of the way. ****

Ghirahim approached the door cautiously, placing his hand upon it. Vaati started to speak, but was quickly hushed. The white clad man was silent and still, breathing deeply for a few moments. He removed his hand. "There's something in there."****

Vaati, still fuming, said, "Good. That means I can go back up to the top and finish off that Sage. I was doing _fine_at killing him, but no, you had to come and drag me away before any form of revenge was achieved. Damn it." He spun around to rush back up the stairs, but Midna blocked his way. Midna, to any Dusk Province or Capitol City resident, was a beautiful woman of average stature. Zant, one of both Ashen and Dusk Province descent, looked similar to her and was about her height. However, she towered over Vaati, a full blooded Ashen Province member. Even Ghirahim was taller than Vaati, who stood a little under six feet tall, a full head shorter than Midna. The wind mage cast a baleful glare up at her and spun back to look at Ghirahim.****

**"**What's that?" Zant asked, kneeling down to the sandy stones and brushing off a small indentation. He found a small lip on the bottom side of it and lifted. With a groan, the trapdoor opened, revealing a long wooden ladder. ****

Zant went down first, followed by Vaati, who was followed by Ghirahim and finally Midna. It was a long ladder, and the dark stone enclosing it made it suffocatingly hot and very dark, even with the entrance opened. At last, Zant's feet made contact with the sandy ground beneath them. The rest made it down a moment later. ****

The night was more forgiving in temperature, even though the desert heat was still hovering in the air. Midna cast a few cautious glances around. The area was an endless sea of sand, with dunes reaching huge heights. Behind them, a large sandstone building rose out of the ground, with freestanding pillars that reached far above the top of the Mirror Chamber. Torches burned brightly, only feet away. Wooden barricades were littered throughout the area.****

Midna was immediately suspicious of the lit torches and tapped Ghirahim on the shoulder. He turned to her, about to speak, but she pointed to the burning light and he stopped. Vaati leisurely stretched out, leaning against the edge of the building. He drove his sword into the sand and it disappeared slowly, fading into shadow storage. Zant stood quietly nearby. With an annoyed glance, Midna gestured to Vaati. He walked up to them and leaned in to whisper. "What?"****

**"**Where are we going? Where's the stupid capital?"****

**"**Oh, that. I figured that you'd want to tour around a little and such"-he paused when Midna glared at him- "but I, umm, don't really remember my way around...you see, I've never actually been to the capital here, I just hung around in the desert with a friend or two..."****

Ghirahim, with a loud sigh, met his forehead with the palm of his hand. Midna rubbed her temples. "Well, where are your friends?" she asked, trying to keep calm.****

**"**They're right over behind these barricades," he said, "but it's complicated...they weren't exactly on good terms with me when I left, and I don't think..."****

Midna, gripping Vaati's shoulder tightly, pushed him along in front of her, out into the torchlight. "Hey!" She shouted, "Vaati's back! Can someone give him directions?"****

A horn sounded, right next to the Twilight Princess. She flinched, but held her ground. Ghirahim stepped in next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She was too tense to object. Dozens of figures began to file out of the small huts that were erected behind the tall stone outer walls. They were mere shadows at first, but as they stepped out into the torchlight, became more apparent. Vivid red hair, much like Midna's, shone in the firelight. Deep brown skin and yellow eyes were the next similar characteristic. Most had long chiseled noses and full lips. They all held weapons, swords, scimitars, bows and arrows. The next thing that Midna noticed was that there were no men at all. ****

And out of the middle of these warrior women came a voice, low, deceivingly sweet, and layered in all the sharpness of a blade. "Vaati. You've returned."****

**A/N: I so appreciate all of the reviews and alerts! I hope you're all as excited about this story as I am. **


	5. Chapter 5

With a sheepish smile, Vaati stepped out in front of Midna and Ghirahim, his hands clasped behind his back. "Hey, Alya," he said, appearing more than a little nervous.****

All of the women were dressed the same, the colors of their clothes varying by small degrees. Flat, sturdy shoes covered their feet. Loose pinkish pants that reached just above the ankle fell gracefully off of their thin hips. All wore an intricately designed scarf as a shirt, baring their stomachs and shoulders and arms. Alya wore red pants, though. The moon-something Midna had always read about and never imagined would be quite so beautiful and eerie at the same time-lit the group well.****

Another woman stepped out, too, standing next to the woman Vaati called Alya. She wore the same colored slacks. "Great to see you, Vaati," she said. Both women approached him. They made no move to sheath the long swords that they each held in one hand, but made no move of aggression. "Oh, don't you remember my name, Vaati? I'm hurt. Maybe it's because _my_name is Alya. _She_is Janan."****

"Oh! I mean, of course, of course!" He laughed, putting both hands in front of him, open palmed. He was sweating. "Hi, Janan, sorry, it's been a while, didn't remember your name."****

"Like hell you didn't remember!" Janan cried. "You damn womanizer bastard, you stay at my house and eat my food and drink my wine and then forget me! Just because I didn't kill you a year ago doesn't mean that I won't kill you now! And it's been awhile since you talked to Nabooru, too, hasn't it? Any reason that you avoided her? Scared, Vaati?"****

Zant, normally so silent, whistled, amused or amazed, Midna couldn't tell. She decided that it was probably time for her to step in before Vaati was sliced and diced by some angry woman. She almost couldn't blame him; they all looked so similar that it was close to impossible to tell them apart. "I hate to interrupt, but..."****

Both women widened their eyes as Midna stepped towards Vaati. "Are you with _her_now, Vaati?"****

Before Vaati could reply, Midna cut in. "Good Goddesses, no!" She audibly gagged, bringing about curious stares from the women. "I'm actually the leader of the Twilight Realm. It's great to meet you, too. He's with me, and while I wouldn't mind watching you two beat the hell out of him, I need to get to the capital of this Realm. Where, exactly, would I find it?"****

Alya and Janan paused for a minute. One of them chuckled. "My, my, you're certainly in trouble now..."****

"Where?" Midna asked, getting impatient. The two women put away their swords, and the rest followed suit. ****

"Unfortunately, we're not in any position to give a Princess directions. You'll have to meet our leader. You know, we wouldn't want to lead you in the wrong direction because of any... bad feelings."****

Ghirahim started to speak. "I don't believe that that will be necessary. We can find the capital on our own if you aren't inclined to tell us-"

One of the women interrupted him. "You are in no position to give orders, even as company of a Princess."

Raising her hands, Midna laughed. "Don't worry. He has no authority. All mine, ladies."

****Ghirahim noted that the way the woman had cut him off was aggressive, to say the least. She looked calm enough, but she unleashed a sweet and insincere smile towards Ghirahim, and he immediately bristled beside Midna. She reached up and gripped his gloved hand that hung around her shoulder, trying to tell him to remain calm. He bit his lip and looked sullenly away from Janan, the woman who had spoken. "Alright, that's it." Midna said, "take us to your ruler and all that crap."****

The ladies stepped forward to stand side by side with Vaati, facing the Princess and her group. "Watch your step," one said, and it sounded like more than directions to prevent tripping. They turned on their heels, each taking Vaati's hand. He paled. Zant, Ghirahim, and Midna followed behind them. The main group of women parted, allowing them passage, and dispersed.****

The group turned around the corner and began to climb a large staircase, made of the same sandy colored stone from the Mirror Chamber. Midna lagged back with Ghirahim and Zant, eying the nervous Vaati that was walking briskly up ahead.****

"What do you think-shall we mention our run in with the Sages or what?" She kept her voice to a low mutter.  
**  
**He shook his head, whispering his response. "I'm not an expert in this realm's strange cultures, so much more...primal...than ours; and Vaati hasn't made an effort to bring it up. Considering that, I think we should keep quiet about it, shouldn't we?"****

Midna shrugged. "Whatever. Stupid politics in this place so far. Should have figured Vaati had shady connections." ****

The Mirror Chamber rested atop this tall stone structure, like some form of crown. One either side, stone pathways extended to small huts and pavilions where bonfires burned. The entrance that the group was about to enter was tall and square. Atop the doorway, a large golden insignia was lit by a single torch. It looked like a crest, with half a circle below and a fragmented triangle above. Midna noted that it appeared elsewhere, too, on top of the Mirror Chamber and on some of the stones that they walked on. ****

They entered the building. "We call this our fortress. We claimed it after it was no longer used as a prison. Legend goes that it used to be called Arbiter's Grounds."****

"How quaint," Ghirahim sniped, earning a glare from one of the women. He smiled at her boldly. ****

"Tell your guests to keep quiet, lest they leave without a head."****

Midna rolled her eyes and gave Ghirahim a small kick with the side of her ankle. He shrugged. ****

The room was long and tall, with stone walls and floors and ceilings. Torches burned brightly on the walls, apparently the only source of light; no windows let moonlight in. A long walkway led through the fortress. On either side, large pools of quicksand engulfed anything that cared to step foot in it. Expensive looking pots and other relics sat upon stone shelves on the walls. Smaller stone walkways stretched off of the main path, leading to small rooms, open to the main area. More women rested in these, stretched out over a small cot. Midna could see the remains of old cast iron hinges on the entries of the old cells, now used as bunks for the guards.****

Vaati stumbled as one of his escorts tripped him. "Watch your step, not the women," she said, pulling him up before he could fall headlong into the quicksand to his side. He didn't say anything.****

"I wonder what they'll do to him," Zant muttered, nudging Ghirahim. "It'll be too bad if they kill him, don't you think?"****

"I doubt that they'll do more than hit him a couple times. Nothing I wouldn't do myself. Certainly not anything out of the realm of what he has coming," Midna interjected. "Let's be real. Whatever he did, it doesn't seem like they hate him enough to murder him...more along the lines of a few slaps."****

_Though I'm not sure I'd want these scary ladies slapping me around, if I were him, _she bemusedly considered.****

Ghirahim just shrugged, and Zant lapsed back into silence. ****

They were led into another room, this one looking more like a grand plaza. It had many doors leading in and out of it, but one main doorway drew Midna's attention. A staircase with four pillars that were lit with an eerie blue flame was in the center of the room and behind it was the large doorway. Crude chairs were positioned on the sides of this platform, with more women guarding it. They still didn't wear any armor. One of the escorts called to them as they walked up the stairs. "Is Nabooru busy?"****

"She just finished watching the last match. You won't disturb her."****

"Oh, great. Coliseum _matches,_**" **Midna murmured to Ghirahim. He didn't laugh. ****

"Like I said earlier. There's something in there."****

Midna didn't have time to reply. The two women, Alya and Janan, left Vaati's side and circled around the group to be behind them. "Go on," was their order. Vaati walked slowly into the large room, flanked by Midna, Zant, and Ghirahim. ****

This room was again lit by torches. They dotted the tall walls, reaching all the way to the ceiling, about one hundred feet above them. In the center of the room, a tall circular pedestal rose from the ground. A very narrow spiral staircase circled around it, leading upwards, to the top of the structure. The guards pointed to it, and Vaati led them up. It took a few minutes, what with Vaati's slow walking and the length of the stairwell. Finally, the entire group surfaced on the top, on the edge of the platform. One guard sat cross legged on the ground to the side, breathing heavily. A large lizard-like animal was chopped into bloody pieces, scattered over the center platform.****

Two large torches burned on the other sides of the platform. A long bridge-like attachment led to a tall and magnificent throne. It blocked what looked like the doorway at the end of the Mirror Chamber's steps. On it sat a tall and beautiful woman, with fiery red hair and the same fierce yellow eyes as her people. She wore the same loose pants and scarf-like top as the rest of the guards, but she wore her hair up in a tie, with a huge ruby shining on the band. Ruby necklaces and bracelets and earrings adorned her. She did, indeed, look like royalty.****

The guards reformed, stepping over the carnage and going in front of the group of visitors. They both walked briskly to their leader's throne and bowed. "Nabooru," they greeted her. "These came from the Twilight Realm. The woman is their Princess. Vaati returned."****

Nabooru said nothing. The guards circled back around the group and then announced, "Bow to the Gerudo leader Nabooru!" Vaati approached the woman on the tall throne. He, as well as the rest of the group, bowed deeply. His seemed more sincere than the rest.****

"Vaati," Nabooru finally said. Then, with no warning whatsoever, she swung out her leg and kicked Vaati right underneath the chin, sending him sprawling. He cried out in pain but said no other words. "You are such a weakling," she sighed. "There's not an ounce of fight in you, is there," and it wasn't a question.****

Midna laughed, drawing the calculating eye of the Gerudo leader. "I really wish you'd do that again."****

"Very well," Nabooru said, standing and sliding off of the chair. She approached Vaati, who struggled to his knees. She reached down and slapped his face. He fell back to the floor pathetically.****

"I was actually kidding," Midna replied, still stifling a smirk. "I sort of need the punk alive. I think. Who knows?"

Nabooru titled her head, smile dancing upon her lips. "Explain yourselves. As you can see, I am in need of another contestant for my entertainment matches." She gestured to the panting guard and the remains of the lizard. "Vaati seems like a good candidate for this position. But, still, grace me with your introductions and plead your case. I may be willing to bargain and only chop off one of his limbs."

_She seems nice, _Midna thought, politely grinning. "Fair enough, I think. My name is Midna. I am the Princess of the Twilight Realm. I'm gathering that you are the equivalent here?"

Nabooru tossed her head back and roared in laughter. "How interesting to meet the Cursed Ones. It seems that despite the popular legends of a Twilight Princess from ages ago destroying the only portal there, you have all found your way back." She took a deep breath, cheeks flushed from laughing, and her expression grew slightly maddened. "I am not your equivalent. I am merely the leader of the proud Gerudo Tribe of the Desert. We are not governed by the centralized country Hyrule, though we reside in its desert. Your true equivalent is a cowardly woman named Zelda. She resides in her castle in the central Hyrule Castle Town. Her government is out of control and she will soon fall."

Midna took note that Nabooru didn't seem particularly saddened by the idea of the Princess Zelda's supposed impending doom. She bowed her head once again. "I've always been a fan of cast-off-rebels, considering the roots of my people." Looking at the rest of her group, including a very darkened Vaati, she gestured Ghirahim forward. "This is my travelling companion, Lord Ghirahim. He proposed a crazy expedition. We're here mostly on business. The idea of opening trade between the Realms is...interesting to us."

"It is a simply monumental pleasure to meet you, Nabooru," he cooed, voice sweet. He bowed his head a little bit, to which Nabooru smiled.

Midna pointed at Zant. "Tall guy is Zant. He's sort of...okay, yeah, whatever, his name is Zant."

He remained silent, waving two fingers in greeting. Nabooru chuckled.

"And, clearly, you already know Vaati. But I'd be just tickled pink to know how he pissed you off."

Nabooru grinned, baring teeth. "Vaati abused my hospitality. He was interested in some of the history of the desert and we allowed him to stay with our tribe-a true rarity, as you can see. He womanized some of the sisters here and we believe that the bonds between women are absolutely sacred. The Gerudo have no mercy for one who disrupts that. But, more than that, he took some of our valuable scrolls depicting history. Marched up to the Mirror Chamber. I believe he got into a fight with the Sages, as he ended up in your realm again. Am I correct?"

Midna nodded. "Yep. Apparently, the Sages kicked his ass _twice_, cause when he ended up back in my realm, he was trying to off himself."

"Thank you, Princess," Vaati muttered.

"I'll gladly let her cut off some extremities if you don't shut up, Windhead," Midna chirped, not breaking eye contact with Nabooru.

"Anywho, when we opened a portal to this realm just hours ago, Vaati got into a...shall we say _skirmish _with one of the Sages again. But Ghirahim and I got it under control. Zant here provided some distractions."

Nabooru, amused, laughed once more. "You come with larger-than-life stories. But, per the oddities and anomalies of this land, I suppose I believe you, Twilight Princess. But your honesty, unfortunately, does not settle Vaati's debt to my tribe. Come forth, Wind Mage."

Midna stepped aside. Vaati's eyes widened. "Nabooru, please."

****The Twilight Princess sighed, grabbing the significantly shorter man by the collar and thrusting him towards Nabooru. "Sorry, Vaati, I don't want to piss her off. Clearly, these women have hearts of steel."****

She looked at Nabooru, hoping her bluff was working.****

"I would love to gauge his eyes out," Nabooru announced, drawing a knife sheathed at her waist.**  
**  
_There went my bluff, _Midna thought with a sigh. "Wait. I need him to be able to see. He's the only one in our group who has been here before. Considering the..._generous..._hospitality and help your tribe has given, I'd be interested in opening a good dialogue between your tribe and my realm. And I can help you deal with any issues you might have with Hyrule's Capital, since I'm headed that way, anyway."****

Nabooru silently appraised Midna.****

"And...tell you what. What's your mating tradition in this tribe?" ****

"Our women are generally...supported...by a man from Hyrule once a year." ****

Midna grinned. "Tell you what. Since Vaati here has expressed so much interest in your tribe's women, I think it's fair to say that once I'm done in this realm, I'll let him stay and take care of the two he screwed. Be their eternal servant or whatever."****

Ghirahim _roared_with laughter behind her. Even Zant couldn't suppress a small chuckle. Vaati, still inches away from Nabooru's knife, widened his eyes some more. ****

Nabooru smiled. "We do always need servants, though it is _unfortunate _that he is of the male gender..." She sighed. "Well, we can fix that, if need be."

"Fix?" Vaati squeaked in horror.

Nabooru ignored him. "For the time being, however, I agree to your terms, Princess Midna, on the condition that you deliver a letter of mine to the Crown Princess of Hyrule, Zelda."

"Sure," Midna replied. "Provided that I get some directions."

"Janan," Nabooru called. "Bring a map."

****Minutes later, a rolled up map was brought to Midna. She thanked the guard and turned back to Nabooru. "Your letter?"****

Nabooru pulled a scroll from the side of her throne. She stood and walked past the group, bending down to dip the paper in the blood that stained the floor. She lifted it, shook it, and handed it to Midna.****

"You may leave now."****

The men in the group scrambled to the staircase. Midna, however, stood still. "Where are the men of your tribe?"****

"Ah," Nabooru smiled. "One is born every one hundred years. Twenty five years ago, he was born here. My guards abandoned him in the desert. As our legends go, the man is destined to be our King. We don't like that much."****

Midna raised her eyebrows and said nothing. Nabooru smirked and kindly stepped to the side. "You and your group may leave from here," she said, pointing to the door behind her throne. The group stepped to the side of her large chair and stepped out into the moonlight.****

Vaati started to speak, but Midna raised a finger at him. The group descended down the ladder once more and started to walk out into the desert. "No one say anything. Not a single Gods-damned word. You'd better be grateful you're not bleeding, you moron," Midna said. Minutes later, when they were reaching the crest of the first tall sand dune, she stopped.****

Vaati immediately started to yell. "I _hate_that woman. Goddess damned desert with the Goddess damned thieves, I knew I should have gone straight to the Castle, bunch of damned rogues living out here in this hellhole! And now I'm supposed to go _back_when this is all over? Think again, _Princess!_I would rather _die _than ever return to that psycho!"****

"Are you done?" Midna asked, rather uninterested in his rant.****

Vaati sighed. "Yes."****

"There is absolutely no way that I will ever send anyone back to her. Actually, I think it would be best if we just conveniently forget the name 'Nabooru'. She is absolutely nuts. Judging by her stunt with this letter, we might want to make nice with the Princess Zelda."****

Ghirahim and Zant both cringed. Midna turned to them. "What?"****

"While I agree that Nabooru is insane," Ghirahim said, "I think that the Princess won't be much better, if indeed her kingdom is failing."****

Zant nodded in apparent agreement.

Midna frowned, annoyed with the group's sudden aversion to the kingdom of Hyrule. "I'm not sure if we should take Nabooru's word for everything we hear. Right, Vaati?"

****He sighed again, struggling for words that wouldn't make him sound like a hypocrite. "I...think we should go forward in our expedition and decide for ourselves whether or not Hyrule is in trouble."

"Excellent idea. And if it is, I guess it'd be in our best interest to get it out of the hole and off the chopping block. I'm not going to be stuck here. I have a kingdom to run and we have to go past the Gerudo to get home, so we'd better have Zelda's support...or I'll _feed _you to Nabooru. Actually, I'll feed all of you to her if your dawdling gets in my way of completing this trip. Clear, folks?"****

**"**Crystal clear, Princess," Ghirahim smiled. "The boys and I will have no trouble behaving. After all, we're gentlemen of the Twilight Realm. You've done a fine job raising good men in your kingdom."****

Midna rolled her eyes. "Alright, quit the flattery. I'm exhausted." She materialized a small mat from her Shadow Storage. "I'm sure's the hell not taking first watch. Vaati can do that for us. Wake us at dawn, you ungrateful bastard. Be sure you don't fall asleep, because I've never seen the sun rise."****

He frowned at her. "I'm beginning to really not like you. But yes, I'll be sure to stay awake, considering that my dreams would consist of various torture methods used by that crazy woman, including my gender being 'fixed.'"****

She smiled angelically. "Good to hear. Everybody else, get some sleep. I want to be out of this stupid desert tomorrow evening."****

**A/N: Thanks for reading! **


	6. Chapter 6

"On the count of three, gentlemen!"

The drilling instructor, equipped with no weapons besides his booming voice, commanded the group of fifty young men with finesse. They were low ranks in the Hylian military, still in need of training to master any skill sets they might have, and few showed promise. His job was to train them until they were proficient or until they dropped out.****

**"**One!"  
**  
****"**Two!"****

**"**Three!" He barked.****

Immediately, each young man turned to the one on his left and deflected a sword strike. All but one duo ended up with their crossguards linked-what the drilling instructor, an imposing Goron by the name of Darbus, called 'the kiss of death'. Disappointed, he yelled, "Withdraw your blades."****

The one young man who had not failed the challenge helped the opponent he had thrown off the grass, examining a small gash from where he had slammed him to the ground. "Sorry, Shad. Must have gotten a little carried away with myself there. Maybe I'm too competitive." ****

Shad was substantially lighter and much more...cowardly than his training partner, Link, was. He wasn't skilled in the blade, but excelled in the intelligence exercises. Link could work through puzzles just fine, but his physical skills were what really defined him: he was a noble swordsman, working with blades like they were extensions of his body, with the ability to use a variety of weapons. He would make an excellent Captain once he climbed the ranks.****

Link looked at Darbus and grinned. "Sorry, Captain Darbus," he said, pointing to his blade as well as Shad's, tossed off in the grass where they landed when Link had disarmed his opponent. ****

Darbus frowned. "Of all things to apologize for, Link!"****

They went back and forth for a moment, Darbus complimenting his skills and Link trying to be humble. The rest of the soldiers stood somewhat awkwardly, perhaps a little resentful towards Link for being the star student.****

**"**Ahem."****

Darbus looked down a good foot at Ralis, but nevertheless stepped back and gave a small salute to him as he spoke. "Commander Ralis! What brings you to our training exercise today?"****

**"**I'm looking for a young man named Link, who I have gotten numerous reports about. He's been...randomly selected for a survey on what life as a soldier is like." He told the lie smoothly, as smoothly as any politician but with the trustworthiness that only came from a military member. He regretted the lie, but the Princess had told him to keep the investigation quiet. ****

Darbus clapped Link on the back, enough to make the young man stumble forward, and laughed. "So my good reports about this kid have been reaching higher up, eh? Good, good! Link, meet Commander Ralis, head of the Hylian Army."**  
****  
****"**Pleasure to meet you, sir," Link said, smiling and extending a hand. Ralis shook his hand and politely smiled back. His teeth stood out against the blue-green of his skin.****

**"**To you as well, young man. Just follow me to Hyrule Castle's upper levels-this won't take long, I promise."****

It was a good thing that Ralis was two things: one, a good man that respected authority and two, a man that was handsomely compensated for all of his lies by his salary. Of course, he had never asked for the salary or position of Commander. He was the head of the Hylian Army, appointed by Zelda herself from a Captain, like Darbus.****

**"**Alright, then. See you around, Shad," He said. Link quickly leaned down, twirled his sword, and sheathed it at his waist, giving Darbus a five-finger salute before jogging after Ralis, who had started walking away from the Training Grounds, an area behind the Castle, over a small bridge that spanned the moat. It was a large grassy field, blocked off from the public with the same tall stone rampart that guarded the castle. Ralis led him back over the bridge and on a brisk walk around the corner of the back of the castle. ****

As soon as he had caught up, Link breathed a rush of words, "Great to have the opportunity to talk to somebody about what it's like to be a new recruit in the Hylian Army, sir. It's really good that the government, even with its troubles, wants to hear the voices of its citizens, especially its military. I admire that."****

Ralis smiled at the young man's enthusiasm. They crossed under an arch and into the main garden square, full of politicians and scholars and soldiers heading north into the castle, south into town, or just mingling by flowerbeds or by the large stone fountain. "Well, Link, that's not exactly everything you'll be doing." He led Link north, through the huge doors that led into the Castle's main parlor. Stained glass reflected the noon sunshine down brilliantly, and Link's eyes gazed at the grand architecture, with murals depicted on the stone walls, regal red rugs with the Royal Crest on them, and luxurious mahogany furniture everywhere. In the center of the room, a large and grand staircase spilled down, a thoroughfare for anybody entering the castle.****

His mind snapped back to what Ralis had just said as they followed a hallway that branched to the left, off from the main parlor, taking a small spiral staircase upwards. Link wondered where they were going-the Royal Library and all other political and journalistic offices were centralized above the parlor. They should have just taken the staircase there, if that was their destination.****

**"**I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Link said. "What did you say?"****

**"**You're not here for a survey." Ralis kept climbing the staircase, spilling up further, before stepping off into another empty hallway-this time, on the fourth story of the castle. This hall was full of more art. At the end of it was a grand doorway.****

**"**That's a private room at the end. Somebody is waiting to see you there."****

Link frowned, looking at Ralis. "If I'm not here for a survey, then why did you pull me out of training? With all due respect, Commander, I don't-"  
**  
****"**And the person at the end of this hall does not appreciate being kept waiting. Good luck, soldier." With that, Ralis turned and walked back down the stairs, leaving Link to the hallway by himself.****

He eyed the hall with suspicion. At the end of the it were two guards flanking the doorway, still and silent as a piece of furniture. They wore full armor, shining brightly like chrome statues in the bright sunlight that spilled in through the tall windows on one side of the hall. They looked out upon the east courtyards and gardens. Further out, the grasslands of East Hyrule Field stretched out and then became dusty and dry, molding itself into the Death Mountain area. Link could see a the far edge of the Training Grounds, with Darbus barking out orders and the soldiers scrambling to obey him. He wished he was back down there, down on the grassy ground with his sword, doing drills. But he wasn't, so he took a deep breath and walked down the corridor to the tall wood doors at the end. The guards didn't move or say anything as he entered.****

Link entered the room quietly, leaving the door open as he took a few steps in to the large meeting room. It was tall and circular, with stone floors and walls and a wooden beamed ceiling. Red tapestries, with the Hylian crest and a few other symbols sewn on in gold, stood out against the grayish rock. More huge windows covered the eastern wall. The furniture in the room was a long wooden table with tall and grand chairs and a small sitting area in a far corner, by a fireplace with two armchairs.****

**"**Please shut the door behind you," a female voice said. "I'd like for this to remain private."****

Link located the sound of the voice in a few seconds. At the very corner of the room, a woman looked out the windows solemnly. She was thin, of average stature, and she wore a long blue dress. It was strapless, with a tight bodice. The skirt flowed down to the ground gracefully. She wore matching blue gloves, and gold jewelry hung from her ears and neck. Long, straight blonde hair fell down her back and over her shoulders. She turned to look at him, and Link noticed that she was quite beautiful, with striking blue eyes and full lips and a defined nose with high cheekbones. Another flash of jewelry caught Link's eye, this time on her forehead and hairline. Gold clips in her hair led to a large sapphire, set in more gold, that dipped down to the bridge of her nose. It was the traditional Hylian crown.****

He turned and closed the door quietly. The Princess walked to him, and, as all soldiers were taught, he sank to one knee in front of her.

Zelda observed him for a moment. He looked young-possibly eighteen, but barely so. Not exceptionally tall, but not short, and the gray-and-gold tunics that the City Guard soldiers wore revealed that he was at least somewhat physically fit, with longer, leaner muscles, a sign of agility. He had pale, gold-tinted skin, a trademark of anybody coming from Faron Woods regions, where ranches were abundant. His hair was short and streaked with brunette and sand, ruffled slightly and tipping just past his pointed ears, but staying out of his face, which was hard, with low cheekbones and big, wide, blue eyes the exact color of Lake Hylia. She perceived him as attractive, by Hylian standards, which she thought was a good thing, another asset that would make this mission more successful. He had a rare look of happiness and determination.

Ultimately, she found no words to describe that he felt very, very familiar. She smiled, a sad smile, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Please, stand up and have a seat." The Princess gestured to two arm chairs near the fireplace on the north wall.

****Link did so and looked at her, somewhat awestruck. Her smile, though still sad, turned somewhat amused. "My official title, of course, is the Crown Princess of Hyrule. But you already knew that, I'm sure. Please call me Zelda, Link."****

He narrowed his eyes. "Okay...Zelda." Link did not like it, the sound of calling the arguably most influential and well-known royalty in Hyrule by her first name. He liked the military's demands of respect and order, and calling the Princess by her first name felt horribly informal.

She cocked her head a bit, and then asked a strange question: "So why do you think you're here, Link?"

He took a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Your Commander Ralis sort of confused me on my way up here. . .he said I was selected for a survey, and then said that it wasn't a survey. I'm not sure why I was misled, even if he is the Commander. Perhaps you could clear it up? I think it might be a mistake."

Zelda laughed. "I don't believe it was a mistake. I asked for someone to help me. Ralis told me that you would be good for the job."

Link frowned. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"Because the job I just mentioned is sensitive. It's not something I want every low ranking soldier in Hyrule knowing the nature of."

In the short time he had known this Princess Zelda, this was the first time he looked at her with suspicion, edging on distrust, wary of her mysterious and vague words. "I'm not following you, Princess. Can you explain?" The respectful tone of his voice didn't waver.

Zelda sighed. "I'll try to clarify. How much do you know about the state of affairs in Hyrule right now?"

****He gave her a quizzical look. "Well...we're at peace. No wars, civil or otherwise." ****

She nodded. "Yes. What about our political situation? Heads of office? Civil trust in government? Economic stability?"****

Link chewed on his lip, trying to figure out how to sound educated without offending the Princess of Hyrule. "I'm not terribly sure about economic stability, besides our currency is is Rupees and that there are some really poverty-stricken areas, especially in parts of Castle Town and the farming areas. Not sure about how the Gorons or Zoras fare in that aspect, though I do know that the Zoras fish and craft and the Gorons mine all sorts of rock. Civil trust in government...I haven't talked to a lot of people in Castle Town, but, again, in the areas in the country, a lot of people a little upset with politics...uhm..." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I just really don't understand why you're asking me this."****

Zelda made eye contact with Link and frowned. "Then you know it is not a secret that there is at least some level of corruption in the kingdom's government, and that there is wide distrust from the people," she announced. She sighed mournfully. "Hyrule is a kingdom born of magic entrusted by the three Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore. Many people have given up faith, and magic has been lost to most Hylians. The few who _do_practice magic do so for mostly malicious purposes. It saddens me to see the culture and history of the kingdom fading, but I fear that the public distrust and lack of faith due to the corruption of politicians is merely smoke and mirrors. A distraction of some kind. I assume you've heard of the Rosulyla?"****

"The gang, right?"****

She smiled. "Something like that. Headed by a vicious man named Ganon. They constantly create chaos and fear among the people, mostly in Castle Town but sometimes farther away, further dividing us."****

Link nodded slowly. "Alright, I understand what you're saying, and I appreciate the information, but-"****

"Link, somebody, a politician or a gangster, wants to assassinate me and take over Hyrule for themselves. I've had a...hunch about it for a number of months. Per our Royal Protocol, we have an annual investigation into the state of affairs and any possible corruption, as well as any threats to prominent figures. We've done one already this year, but something still doesn't feel right. Do you understand what I'm asking of you now?"****

His eyes widened as her request dawned on him. "You want _me _to do an investigation? I'm not a City Guard, nor a Country Guard, I'm just training to be a soldier. That's it. I'm honored that you have thought of me to take this position, but I don't have the skill set required. I know a young man who could help you, though, how about I ask Ralis to-"****

Zelda stood and looked down at Link, eyes narrow, voice sharper than he had heard it before. "Are you refusing a command from the Crown Princess, Link? Come, now, you are far too intelligent for that."****

He sat silently for a minute, staring at her, the respectful tone of his voice dissipating. "I don't like being threatened." ****

"I am not threatening you. I am simply asking you a favor, and you happen to be in a position where it would be very wise to accept my request," she explained, her voice returning to her normal volume. Zelda coolly waited for his response, arms crossed over her thin chest. ****

With a frustrated sigh, knowing that she was right, Link asked, "What will I be doing?"****

"Anything and everything. I have had strange feelings about numerous people. All four of the Councilmen-Eric Salonden and Paul Bablin, and Peter Zoten and Samuel Mastes-are constantly in disagreement of me. They try to sway me to sign off on destructive legislation, and when I refuse, they smear me for it, enraging the population towards the Royal Council, and towards me. Whenever I propose a raid looking for Ganon or perhaps delivering food to some of the starving ranchers, something goes wrong. Somebody dies, something is missing...I have good reason to believe that someone is pulling the strings, whether it be a politician or one of the Rosulyla, perhaps both."****

"So you want me to find out who that is, and do what?"****

"Deliver them to me. Report all your findings to me, really."****

Link considered this. "That sounds...reasonable, I suppose. I assume I shouldn't talk to anybody in the military about it, or anybody, for that matter-"****

"You won't be sleeping in your barracks. As far as your fellow soldiers are concerned, you've dropped out of sight. You might be doing a survey. Who knows? Ralis will handle damage control for that, making sure there isn't any 'missing soldier' phenomena. There are guest suites in the Castle and should your investigation take you out of the Castle Town, which it very well may, you can make your own arrangements. For the sake of getting past guards and such, you may tell everybody that you are my newly appointed Advisor, someone who will be looking into the different areas of Hyrule, and writing it down in the Hylian Archive. It gives you a great excuse to talk to anyone and attend the castle events." ****

With a huff, Link nodded. ****

"Don't be fooled, Link. There are very bad people in Hyrule, capable of doing very bad things. I have no real rules for how you do this job, but that you recognize that your life may be on the line to save mine. Be careful who you make friends with, and be even more careful with who you make enemies with. Ganon is a very, very powerful mage, one of the few great ones left. I'm sure there are others out there, too. I had Ralis summon you because you excelled in all of the weapons you were tested on-sword, bow, even hand-to-hand fighting-but that you also demonstrated fairness, bravery, and compassion. All of these things will be tested. If you feel eyes on your back, even in the darkness of shadows, it's because somebody is watching you. Waiting for a chance to strike."

Zelda left out one important detail: that she was also choosing him because he had no family left to lose. She only wished that someone could have picked _her_as fairly as she did him.

His eyes widened. "...sounds great. But...yes, I accept. I'll do it, no problem. For country, for Crown, everything included."

She nodded. "Thank you. Now, you cannot go out wearing your uniform. Go up one floor and to the room at the very end of the hallway. It is a guest suite. Use it however you'd like. There is an extensive wardrobe in there, full of clothing. Since you will be called an Advisor, use good sense in how you dress. But a word of advice..."

****Zelda yanked up the skirt of her dress and Link expected to be _very_embarrassed, but he wasn't. Underneath her gown, Zelda appeared to be wearing long, durable black trousers. She pulled out a long dagger that was sheathed to her waist. "I'd consider hiding a weapon in whatever you wear." ****

A sudden pang of fear struck him, but he ignored it. "Not a bad idea." He stood and extended his hand. "I'm...honored that you're confident enough in me that you'd throw me into this and think that I can still get out. I'm just hoping you're right."****

She laughed. "Goddesspeed to you, Link. You may come report findings to me at any time. For the sake of this kingdom, I hope that I see you again, soon."****

The hidden meaning of those words chilled him, but he laughed and shook his head. "Same here, Princess. Same here."

/\\\\\\\\\\

****The darkness began to change.****

Vaati, who had been sitting on the sand, wide awake, since the deepest part of night, stirred a little. Beside him, on an assortment of items, lay Midna, Zant, and Ghirahim. Midna was the only one smart enough to bring a mat. Even though it was normally used for exercise, it looked more comfortable than Zant's slim black robe that he was stretched out on. Ghirahim hadn't brought anything that was suitable for sleeping on, so his red cloak was utilized. None of them looked deeply asleep.****

"Hey," he said, his voice conversational. "O Sleeping Princess, you're going to miss the sunrise."****

Zant was the first one to sit up. His eyes burned a deeper shade of gold, a sign of his less-than-comfortable sleeping arrangement. He brushed off his shirt and trousers, which both were covered in sand. He groaned a little and pushed himself up to his feet.****

Midna and Ghirahim both moaned a little before opening their eyes. "Vaati, you fool, it's still dark out, this isn't funny..." Ghirahim complained, throwing his gloved hand over his face. ****

"You're going to miss it," Vaati said, sighing. But with a devilish grin, he summoned up a large gust of wind from underneath the Princess and Ghirahim, using it to lift them about six inches off of the ground. He then dispelled the wind and watched them land back on the sand with a satisfying thud. ****

Midna immediately bolted upright, her sword that she had shown Lian appearing in her hands. She whirled around, looking for danger, and stopped short when she saw the smile on Vaati's face. "You are _so_lucky," she began, "that I'm too tired to hurt you." The sword faded away again. Ghirahim had bolted upright as well, but hadn't drawn any weapons.

"Look," Zant said, gazing at the sky. The stars still glowed faintly, like little pinpricks of light in the early morning. The moon, almost full and circular, was near the bottom of the horizon, about to be overshadowed by the glowing orb of light that Midna had read about in her libraries. The sky was turning from blackness to a deep gray, painting everything in the dim color. Vaati sunk back down to the crest of the sand dune, sitting cross-legged, not amazed like the rest of the group, having seen the sun before. Zant remained standing, staring deeply at the eastern horizon, where dull hills became dusty dry plateaus and small mountains. Over it, the moon began to set.

Midna stood still and quiet, watching the sun-brighter than any Sol-rise over the mountains. Within minutes, the entire desert was painted with the white-hot light, erasing the night and replacing the moon's dull glow with the sun's intense light. Her skin, normally so deep and dark in the twilight, became brilliantly blue, contrasting vibrantly against her hair, which glowed like fire. The sand beneath her feet became golden, not whitewashed. Ghirahim smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back at him. "Let's get going," she said, and they started off.

Hours later, the group was still trekking across the sand dunes, finding themselves more and more unprepared for the barren desert. The air felt searing hot. The sand beneath them became like a mirror for the sun's miraculous temperature, sending heat at them from every direction. Both Zant and Vaati had transferred their cloaks to their Shadow Storage, which seemed to be unusually limited in the Light Realm. Vaati's gray tunic was coated in sweat. Zant was also covered in sweat. Ghirahim had pushed back his hair that normally hung in his face and had taken off his gloves. Midna had removed all of her jewelry and outerwear, leaving her miserable in one of her more conservative dresses. She understood the Gerudo's minimal clothing now.

"I think the books got this wrong," Midna panted, taking another heavy step up a sand dune, "because this is definitely the Cursed Land, not my realm." She threw her head back and squinted up at the sun. She flopped down on a sand dune, sending grains of dust flying up behind her.

****Vaati frowned at her and materialized a gust of wind, spreading into a little tornado of sand whirling towards Midna. It spun and twisted in the glaring sunlight. She glared. Ghirahim snapped his fingers and in a flurry of scarlet diamonds, the whirlwind disappeared. "Vaati, don't be childish."****

"Yes, Vaati, don't be childish. Speaking of which, did you sleep well last night? Like a baby?" Midna threw her head back and laughed, observing Zant, who, as usual, stood freakishly quiet. He didn't even look miserable in the heat. ****

The wind mage threw a glare. "I'm not voting for anyone you endorse ever again. Not like I did in the first place, Princess. Nightmares about half mad Gerudo women after my-"****

Ghirahim sighed. "Let us not forget that _you,_Vaati, were the one who chose to associate with those strange desert women in the first place. You made the bed. You truly deserve to lie in it."****

Midna took a breath and stopped laughing, face serious again. The sun burned with its passionate noon strength and the glamor of the blue sky had been wearing on her. It had been awe inspiring to see the sunrise-like darkness and twilight being sucked out of the sky, replaced by a beautiful, hazy blue that Midna had rarely seen in nature.****

But with the sky came unforgiving heat.****

The group had trekked miles across the desert and tried to ignore the burn for water in their throats, Vaati and Midna bickering, Ghirahim interfering, and Zant rarely contributing anything other than pointing out the strange creatures that made their homes in the sand.****

Finally, the dunes began to fade into more manageable heights and the sand became more sparse, replaced with hard dusty ground. The group began to slow down, trying to manage their burning thirst and hunger.****

Zant paused, the map appearing in his hands. He had appointed himself as the group's navigator, something that no one had protested. "We started over here," Zant said, tapping a section of the map that indicated the Gerudo Fortress and Mirror Chamber. "We went straight down and then east...meaning..." he traced his long fingers to the squiggly lines on the map. "That's the Gerudo Mountain Range." ****

"Mountain?" Midna frowned. She conjured up the illustrations of what 'mountains' were, seen only in fables or history books that supposedly dated back to the time when her ancestors were still in the Light Realm. "That's what they look like? Aren't there supposed to be giant, looming clouds? Thunder? Lightning? Those look sort of...boring." ****

Ghirahim smiled. "Even mountains, supposedly one of this realm's greatest wonders, do not impress our Princess. Truly high standards." ****

Vaati muttered something about spoiled queens. Midna ignored him and turned to Zant. "How far do you think till we reach those oversized boulders? And how far do they go until we reach...that?" She walked over to Zant and pointed to the large blue area on the map, which was shown as the next thing over the mountains.****

"I suspect no farther than a mile or two, so only a few more hours out here hiking in the desert. They don't look terribly green, though, so there might not be much shade on them. They go for a couple miles." ****

"See, Midna?" Ghirahim smiled. "Not terribly far. It appears you'll be able to drop your sour attitude soon enough."****

He grinned as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ghirahim, I'm disappointed. Here I was, thinking you knew me. My attitude is _permanent._**"**

Vaati immediately made a quip at her, and Ghirahim watched the Twilight Princess quip back at him, fascinated. Her hair, much like flames in their own realm, positively _glowed_in the Light Realm, under the heat of the desert sun. She walked, even exhausted, with a sort of stride that he described somewhere between protective and arrogant. Certainly a larger-than-life personality, which he appreciated. It was too bad that she wasn't awfully sold on most of his ideas of conquest and fame. For all of her fabulous traits, at the end of the day, Princess Midna played it safe-something that Ghirahim certainly did not. ****

"Am I so beautiful that you don't have any words left to respond, Lord Empty Head?" Midna frowned at him, snapping him from his thoughts. She wiped her hand along her forehead, a sheen of sweat dancing across her skin as she did so. "That's nice. You're not even listening to your buddy Vaati, who might have had a good enough idea that I'm not teasing him for it."****

Ghirahim chuckled. "Please, Vaati, forgive my carelessness. What is this brilliant idea of yours?"****

The mage shrugged. "I thought I might try gliding us down the remaining sand dunes with a wind spell. Might be difficult, but I could attempt."****

Zant sighed. "We would have reached the mountains much faster had you had the maturity to mention this before, Vaati."****

"Maturity? You're the creepy silent guy, always acting so superior." Vaati blew a gust of sand at Zant, who did nothing except step to the side.****

Midna groaned. "Ghirahim, tell your friends to knock off their bickering before I march on back to my palace, with my abundance of water, delicacies, and most importantly, wine. I didn't agree to this trip to be a babysitter," she quipped. ****

"Fine," Vaati said. "But I'm not really sure I can do this, considering my lack of food and water..." ****

Midna first dismissed this as whining, but cared enough to do a double take as her eyes wandered over Vaati's slim body. He was covered in sweat, like the rest of them, and deep circles were etched under his eyes. His hands, which he was raising in front of him, were shaking. He looked...frail. His skin, which was even lighter than Ghirahim's, almost looked transparent. It held only a slight tinge of ash. She really _wasn't_sure that he'd be able to get them anywhere.****

A breeze, cool and refreshing, was felt, but the feeling faded after a minute. Vaati groaned. "Sorry."****

Ghirahim paused. "Well...Now that we can see where we're going, I could attempt to warp us, a couple times a mile. But it might make someone-" ****

"Another idea that I would have liked to hear earlier. Work your magic."****

Ghirahim shrugged and gripped Midna's hand, and she in turn grabbed Vaati, who grabbed onto Zant. In a flash of red diamonds, they began to disappear and reappear, from one point to another so long as it was visible from the first. The group began to understand why they had such difficulty performing the spell themselves; it made them sick. With each flurry of diamonds, they felt more and more ill.****

The group reached the crest of one of the mountain-hills. The ground was solid, made of thick dusty dry dirt with tufts of golden grass breaking through. They could see the entire expanse of mountains and desert now. To the west, the Gerudo Desert stretched out until it was met by another set of mountains. Those looked more formidable, with tall rock peaks that jutted upwards, nearly vertical. The map depicted nothing after them, but in messy script, _uncharted_was written. More mountains-seemingly where the Gerudo Mountain Range and the Gerudo Peaks (as the map called them) met to the north and south. Truly, the desert was entirely isolated, a baking hot valley of heat. ****

"Stop," Zant gasped, breaking contact with Vaati and stumbling a few feet over, finding a very dry looking bush. He leaned over and, clutching his stomach, promptly vomited. Ghirahim, Midna, and Vaati all turned away.  
**  
"**Gross," Midna said, but she didn't make any other comments, feeling quite sick herself. She kneaded her temples, leaning over a little to place her hands on her knees. Vaati sat down on the hot dusty ground. "How do you do that, Ghirahim?"****

"It's never been a problem for me," he said simply. "Here." He placed his hand on Midna's face, cradling it for a moment, before she felt a slight cool feeling. Her nauseousness faded as quickly as it had come, and she looked up at Ghirahim in wonder. He smiled at her warmly, and she met it with a small smile of her own. ****

Vaati snorted. "Hey, lover boy. Can you make the guy who's puking feel better, too?"****

Ghirahim rolled his eyes and formed a small gold diamond in front of him, which he pushed with his fingertip over to Zant. It hit his body and faded. The Twili stood up, running a long-fingered hand over his hair and wiping away the sweat that settled on his face. "Thank you," he panted. ****

"Let's keep going," Midna suggested, straightening up. She reached for Ghirahim's hand and then offered hers to Vaati, who took Zant's hand as well. In another flurry of diamonds, they disappeared sharply and materialized a few hundred feet away at the crest of another hill-mountain. Again and again they faded and reappeared, at the tops of mountains and occasionally on the side of a large cliff. Soon enough, Ghirahim was warping too fast for them to notice where they landed. ****

A cool feeling hung in the air now, like leftover morning dew. It was about noon, and the sun was still sending waves of heat, but the air had changed. It was no longer the stale desert heat. It felt different, _tasted_different. Midna opened her eyes, sure that they had stopped warping. ****

In front of her was the sky, reflected perfectly up at her. The tips of her toes were just barely touching it. It was cool, almost too cold to be comfortable, even in the heat, but she took a careful step into the beautiful clear water that looked like a mirror of the blue sky.

"Welcome to Lake Hylia," said Ghirahim.

**A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites, and alerts!**


	7. Chapter 7

Castle Town was bustling.

Link had spent his full day yesterday doing quick street research, studying maps of the town and marking off any areas that he wanted to avoid. He didn't want to step out into the country masquerading as an Advisor and have no clue where he was going-something that would surely blow his cover-and he was somewhat satisfied at his ease in learning the area.

He sat, sipping a bitter drink, from a place called Telma's in the western area of town. He had insisted on something without any alcohol, but the bartender had rolled her eyes and offered him this. The sun only just beginning to flood the streets with late morning light, but he hadn't slept much, and the only other patrons of the bar were people who had been too hungover to stumble down the cobblestone streets last night. He suspected that the bartender, a robust woman named Telma (as she had told him, she was Telma the ninth, after the original woman who owned the bar hundreds of years ago) was making a killing off of operating not only as a place for drink but as a place to get a morning meal. The place was darkly lit and bordered on a seedy neighborhood, but it didn't seem to be _bad, _so Link was taking his chances.

Link sighed and threw a blue rupee down on the counter. "Keep the change, Ms. Telma."

"Call me Miss again, boy, and I'll throw you out of my place."

He chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the drink."

Link slid off of the bar stool and pulled his light brown cape back on over his tunic. He thought he looked ridiculous, but the wardrobe in his guest suite wasn't meant for practicality at first glance. He had settled on a strange, evergreen tunic, white tights and boots, in addition to the lightweight cape. Before he had left, he had also grabbed the matching, floppy green hat-another addition he found silly, yet had seen the style on many politicians and scholars and advisors. They always wore something flashy and unusual.

Following the Princess Zelda's advice, he had a small blade in his pocket. A lot of nobles he had noticed yesterday carried a decoration bow and quiver for show, so he followed suit and thanked the Goddesses that he at least knew how to shoot straight.

He walked out of the bar, down the street, and made a left, again unsure of what he was exactly supposed to be doing. He didn't like lying, but found some amusement in the strange stories he was telling people. Finding a small blacksmith shop, he walked in. "Good morning," he smiled, a little nervous upon finding that the head smith was a large Goron. Over the insistent clanging of hammers on red hot metal, he began his normal speech. "I'm an Advisor of the Princess Zelda and am...collecting information about public opinion regarding the Castle and city business codes. It's a very in-depth assignment, so any information you'd like to share will fit in perfectly. It's all going in the Archives."

The Goron grunted. "Does she even read the Archives?"

Link swallowed a little nervously. "Oh, well, I'm sure she does when she has time."

This seemed to placate the Goron a little, even if he didn't believe it. "In case you haven't noticed, buddy," the Goron started, "this area of town is getting hit pretty hard by all sorts of problems."

"My apologies, sir," Link apologized, his voice remaining conversational. After spending a day in the castle, he knew the ways that the other Advisors-who didn't really write much in the Archives, but what they did write was purely about the Castle events-and Councilmen and other Nobles spoke to lower-class citizens. He didn't like it, but for the sake of secrecy, he mimicked it. "What type of trouble?"

"I've got the Rosulyla breathing down my neck for half of my earnings and the guards just sit by and watch it. Actually, I asked for help once, even though they never did anything before. They told me I'd have to give them-get this-a thousand rupees for them to do anything about it. You know how long it takes me to make a thousand rupees, son?"

Link, who would normally object to being called _son_ by someone he didn't know, didn't really know what to say, so he went with the callous silence that Nobles used when presented with information they didn't really want to know.

"About a month, and that's more than the Goddess-damned Rosulyla want. I have a family. They live upstairs, dealing with this noise-" he paused, letting his point be proven by a loud bang from the back of the room, "and to live on half wages is just inadequate. I've gone to every meeting and event to try and report these guards, but no one seems to listen. My letters to the Councilmen are constantly met with more 'I'm so sorry, reelect me and I'll try and help with guard corruption'. I can't deal with this any more."

"Who, exactly, are these guards?" Link strived to keep his voice calm and collected, not showing any of the sympathy he felt towards the Goron.

"The ones that get assigned to this area every other day. Seems they've got some kind of secured position there. They're here today, actually."

"And the Rosulyla? They take your money?"

"They threatened my family," the Goron said, his face, made of rock anyway, seemingly hardening. "They told me that if I didn't give them what they wanted, I wouldn't have to worry about feeding them anymore."

"Now...these individuals...can you give me a description?"

"Every time, it's someone new. Always says that they're in charge of collections for that day. Won't listen to begging or pleading."

Link winced. Even with the prestigious attitude and behavior, he couldn't entirely cover his disgust with the whole situation in Castle Town. "Ah. And, hmm, what else..." he pretended to look over notes in a small leather bound notepad. "And business?"

"It's fine. I make weapons and prison bars, both of which are pretty vital right now."

"Who are your biggest customers?"

The Goron smiled, a sad sardonic smile. "Well, it's the Guard, and the Rosulyla."

"That'll be all," Link concluded, turning and walking out of the shop. To his pleasure, a trio of Hylian Guards were sauntering down the street, suited up in heavy chrome armor. They were laughing boisterously amongst themselves, helmets held under their arms. One was snacking on a large loaf of bread that he grabbed from a streetside cart without paying for. The attendant didn't even protest.

Link marched up to them. They paused for a moment, evaluating him, before straightening up and giving him a polite greeting. "I'm an Advisor for the Castle. I need all of your names for the Guard Attendance and Service Log." He pulled the name out of thin air, but the guards seemed to buy it. He handed them his notebook and they scribbled out their names.

Link wasn't quite sure what he intended to do about all of this; the guard corruption, the Rosulyla, the Councilmen's apathy, the fading pride in Hyrule as a whole. All he knew was that he was getting every name he could of every crooked guard and every laughing criminal, as well as the little bits of information that he gathered from storekeepers and locals, like the biggest customers of blacksmiths or the regulars at a bar on a certain night. He was beginning to understand his assignment, and it was becoming more and more monumental.

He had never realized just how bad it was getting in Castle Town or in any of the more populated areas of the country. He had, after all, grown up in Ordon, in the Faron Woods region, on a ranch in a pin-prick small town and it was only a few months ago when he came to Castle Town. And even then, he had stayed close to the castle and military quarters. Anything he had heard of the Rosulyla was limited to what was officially written-he hadn't, until talking to the Goron, heard anything of their criminal reach. Add in the corruption of guard members and politicians, and he was seeing more and more logic behind Zelda's suspicions that somebody wanted her dead, just for the sake of adding more chaos into the situation.

With a long sigh, he put his hat back on and strolled down the cobblestone streets to the next store.

/

"Princess Zelda?"

Zelda looked up from the ancient text she was thumbing through, eyes piercing to the ajar door. One of the guards stuck his head in. "Commander Chief Ralis is here and says he has interesting news for you."

She smiled pleasantly. "Sure. Please send him in."

The guard stepped aside and a wide-eyed Ralis entered, shaking his head and shutting the door. "Princess, I just saw something that I truly can't believe and I could use your confirmation on the subject. I am hoping that I am hallucinating, but, really, I don't think I am."

She eyed him strangely. He was dripping wet and looked a little dirty. "Were you swimming in the...moat?" Zelda stood, walked to her wardrobe, and tossed him a towel. "What did you see?"

"I swam up from Lake Hylia. I was overseeing an aquatic training exercise, took a small walk away from the group, and saw-well, anyway, yes, I was in the moat, because it was the quickest route to the castle from the lake. Also, you need to replace the metal gate that blocks the entrance, it's all rusted out..."

"What did you see at the lake, then?" Zelda subtly let her eyes flicker back the text. As much as she liked Ralis, it did annoy her that he was taking so long to get to the point.

He noticed. "I'm sorry for intruding, but Princess, I believe I saw a group of _Twili._"

Her eyebrows rose skyward, surprise filtering through her body. There were a few beats of silence, in which Zelda mentally scanned over every drop of information she had read regarding the Banished Ones. The most recent piece was from hundreds of years ago, when, supposedly, a Twilight Princess had destroyed the Mirror of Twilight, the only known link between the realms in the first place. Since then, there had been no contact, and most people had forgotten the existence of the Twilight Realm.

"At...Lake Hylia?" She tried to repress a smile, but the corners of her mouth turned up. Seeing that Ralis looked completely serious, Zelda cocked her head. "You don't look like you're kidding around, Ralis. What did you see? How many? What did they look like? What were they doing? Did you talk to them?"

"They were on the other bank, opposite of me..." his cheeks colored slightly. "And, to be honest, I was quite alarmed and didn't know if they were...hostile, and I didn't want to involve the soldiers in training, so I headed straight here. Regarding what I saw, though, there were four of them. All very tall, thin. One woman with dark blue skin, very odd red hair, and cyan markings all over her body. One was ghostly and a strange light blue gray color, the tallest of the group, wispy purple hair. Another was dressed very regally. White hair. Ashy gray skin. And then there was a shorter one, longer purple hair, palest of the group, who appeared to be upset with the red headed woman. From what I could see, he was manipulating the wind. The sand they were standing on kept shifting and flying up."

Zelda, listening to his retelling of the encounter, frowned. "From what I have read of the Twilight Realm, it is not uncommon for their people to be mages that channel dark magic. I have heard cyan markings indicate a sort of 'imprint' from using magic." She sighed. "Damn it. I want to know how they got here and why they're coming. I have far too much to deal with, and now Twili running rampant? Are they planning to invade? Hyrule cannot stave off an invasion."

Ralis shook his head. "As the Commander of the Hylian Military and all of its respective branches, Princess, I say that I would never let the Goddesses' outlaws invade our fair land." He bit his lip. "I should have just swam over to them. Instead, I panicked and came here."

"No, Ralis. Don't apologize. You were right to inform me. Now, did this group of...Twili, I suppose...look like they were on the move? Coming towards town?"

"I don't think so. It almost looked like they were...tired. Setting up camp for the rest of the day."

Zelda rubbed her temples and exhaled breath through her teeth. "Well. There isn't much I can do about them right now, I suppose. I have no way of tracing any magic they might have used to get here. If they don't seem to be an imminent danger, then I won't deal with them at the moment. If you happen to see them again, attempt to talk to them. Extend an invitation to come see me. If they're hostile..." she paused and laughed. "Retreat."

He sighed. "Far too much excitement for me. If they are really...mages of darkness, I can't see that they're in any _danger_ to the land. But I've never met a Twili. Only read of them. Goddesses know what they could _possibly _want from us right now." He shook his head and turned to leave, stopping for one more thing. "Oh, and Princess Zelda, I've taken care of covering that young man, Link's absence from the military stations."

"Maybe I'll have him scout out the Twilit visitors..." she mumbled. "Thank you, Ralis. I appreciate it."

"No problem, as usual, your Highness."

/\\\\\

Lord Ghirahim stared out at the waters of Lake Hylia passively, watching the rest of his group splash around like children in the cool liquid. He had already taken a long drink of the water. Now, all he wanted to do was rest. He had found shade underneath a large tree on the small isolated bank that he had found, and laid out his cloak over the grass to sit on. He sighed, almost content with this simple moment.

Midna swam further out into the lake, diving below the surface. She was a natural to swimming, something that amused Ghirahim and the rest; there were no lakes in the Twilight Realm, only one huge and powerful river that swept away anyone who dared step foot in it. Ghirahim didn't care for water, really, but he enjoyed seeing Midna and the others 'bond', as he saw it. Even Zant was sitting on the bank, feet submerged.

He gazed up at the sky, wondering why the Goddesses ever banished the Twili. 'Dark magic' was the commonly used phrase...but what defines dark magic? Was it the use of it for evil? The matter that the spells created? The feelings behind the magic? He didn't know, but he wished to find out. The Twili were peaceful, for the most part. They had their strange groups, and they all were a little more spiteful than normal, but no one was _dangerous_, besides a few select individuals. Most of which were now in the Light Realm, frolicking in the waters of Lake Hylia. Vaati and Zant, with their farfetched ideas of taking over this land, didn't truly mean harm-besides to the Sages, who had earned Vaati's eternal rage. He smiled at that.

But what Ghirahim was puzzling over was what _he_ really wanted to find in the Light Realm. Did he, too, want to try to take over the Light Realm? Part of him said yes, lusted for that kind of power. But that wasn't his goal here, not really. He couldn't care less about opening up trade between the realms, and he knew Midna didn't really buy that, either. Was it just curiosity? Perhaps, he thought, but not only that. But the idea of tempting the Twilight Princess into traveling into a forbidden land was story-worthy, and he was always the one caught up on theatrics. Of course, he was never the 'good guy' in his mental productions. He enjoyed being the antagonist.

Midna, calling to him, made his eyes refocus on her. "Hey, Ghirahim, if you're going to be a lazy asshole and sit around, why don't you build us a fire for tonight?"

She was drenched with the cold water, her simple black dress hanging off of her, soaked. This dress had sleeves, even, and she looked freezing. He laughed a little, and she scowled at him. With a snap, a large tree branch was torn from the tree and broken into small pieces, hovering in midair, before it all assembled into a neat fire pile. He snapped again, and it lit up in large tongues of orange. She rolled her eyes, attempting to look nonchalant, just barely failing.

Vaati and Zant both walked up from the water and sat by the fire, too. Sand was sticking to their skin and clothes, but the sun wasn't really enough to warm them, so they huddled by the fire without complaint. Midna sat on her feet by the flames, wringing her hair out. It had come undone from its usual updo, streaming down her to her waist and reflecting the sun and the fire.

Her eyes met Ghirahim's with their usual knowing glance.

He smiled at her, as usual, and she grinned back at him, as usual. How long had they known each other? Five years? Had they always played these games? Ghirahim knew the answer was yes. Did that mean that he loved her? He didn't think so. He _wanted _her, like a collector wants a valuable piece of merchandise. He thought of her as the perfect partner, just outrageous enough for him, just exciting enough, and independent enough. If only she were sold on the idea, as well.

_Well,_ he thought, _perhaps she'll change her mind._

/

"One deli croissant, please," Link said. The small tavern's barista handed him the pastry, filled with thin slices of meat and cheese, and Link dropped a blue rupee on the counter in payment. He grabbed the sandwich and headed out under the archway, back onto the busy streets. With a sigh, he leaned against an alley wall and nibbled on his lunch.

He had talked to several other shopkeepers on the western side of town and they had expressed similar concerns to that of the Goron blacksmith-the Rosulyla running a business made on fear and the guards unwilling to do their jobs of protecting citizens.

Link wistfully thought about how much he missed Ordon, where the only fears were hard frosts or wolves wandering onto the ranch or hanging out too close to town. Hard frosts could be dealt with through patience and calm, and hunters could be sent to deal with wolves. There was none of this violence or corruption. And the people of Ordon had their political beliefs; from afar, everything in their capital looked like it was doing just fine-why vote for somebody new if nothing bad was happening? Of course, he would love for them to be more informed, but he almost missed the ignorance. The rest of the world was turning out to be an ugly place indeed.

But he was on assignment, and he couldn't just go back to his hometown. Not that there was much left there for him, anyway.

Link finished off his lunch and was about to walk back out into the main street when he noticed the people walking down it start to panic, to quicken their pace, to duck inside buildings. It was sudden, and they were hushed, conversations still hanging in mid-air.

Cautiously, he drew his knife. Eyeing how small it was and pairing it with the concern that he had no clue what was making people run away, he decided that if he made it through the day, he was going to go find himself a sword.

In the meantime, though, he clutched his knife and backed up against the alley wall to get a picture of what was going on on the street.

A bomb lazily rolled down the street, fire working its way down the fuse.

Link back pedalled into the darkness of the alley, bracing himself for the explosion.

Shards of cobblestone flew into the air as the bomb blew, heavy, foggy smoke rising into the air momentarily. Just long enough to mask the identities of the people who walked through the smoke. Link placed his knife in the hood of his cloak, taking care to conceal it.

_What a way to make an entrance, _he thought. No guard would pull a stunt like this, not from what he'd seen. They were big talkers until it came down to action.

Link shuddered at the slightly prominent possibility that this was part of the Rosulyla's "daily collection" that the shopkeepers had been complaining about. He quietly stepped to the mouth of the alley, smoke clearing just enough for him to see three burly figures kick in the door of the tavern he had just ordered his lunch at, which had been bolted shut just before the bomb exploded.

"Here for the daily collection," a cheerful, low male voice announced.

The barista's voice echoed out to Link. "I haven't made enough today to pay you. You just scared off my noon rush, you know. Come back tonight and I might be able to work it out."

Another voice. "Lady, we don't want trouble, but I don't give a damn if you have _no_ customers. You pay us or we torch the place, and maybe turn you into ashes with it."

Link counted to three in his head and said a little prayer before sighing and walking through the now-open archway to the bar, the door off its hinges on the floor. "I'm an Advisor for the Princess Zelda and am commanding you to stop this criminal act."

He found himself being stared down at by three _huge_ men. Surely, they were Gorons, but they weren't-just monstrously built. They were all wearing black cloaks, hiding everything except their noticeably ugly faces. The one in the center laughed. "Did you hear that, boys? An advisor wants us to back off! I guess we'd better leave. Yeah, right! Are you some kind of fool? Some kind of moron? Did the Princess decide it was time for her Advisors to start getting killed off, too?"

Link looked at the barista, who was backed up against the far wall. He slightly tilted his head, motioning for her to run. She shook her head _no_, but he made the motion again and she sprinted out the door. One of the men cursed. "Damn it," he said. "Well, Mr. Advisor, what is it that you do? Run errands? You're dressed pretty nice. How much is that little coward paying you?"

"Well..." he sighed, reaching behind his back like he was going to crane his neck. The Rosulyla guards started taking steps towards him. He clutched his knife in one hand and scrambled for a plan.

"Well, what? You ignoring me?" the original man boomed, swinging his fist at Link's face. In a swift and unrelenting movement, Link ducked, took his knife, and rammed it into the man's shoulder. He didn't even try to retrieve it.

A gush of blood fell from the wound, darkening his already black cloak, and he cried out. "Damn you, get that Advisor!"

Link was a good enough fighter and archer, but couldn't fire or fight while being chased. He threw the bow at one of the men and dumped the arrows behind him as he took off sprinting down the western main street, the heavy footfall of the two uninjured Rosulyla behind him.

Up ahead, he saw a shipment of crates stacked against a low-lying roof top. Knowing he wasn't nearly armed or talented enough to fight the Rosulyla guards, he increased his speed and vaulted up the crates, latching his fingers onto the rooftop and pulling himself up onto it. He ran across it and leapt across to another rooftop, moving westward and not stopping, not even to look behind him-where he was sure that the Rosulyla were, albeit slowly, pursuing him.

He reached the last rooftop, chest burning for air. He looked behind him and, just one rooftop away, were the heavy men. Link glanced around and looked below. Just on the other side of the gate, which was the west wall of the building he was on top of, was the moat that ringed Castle Town and the Castle itself. The wall he stood on was taller than the rampart that surrounded the castle and moat, giving him a perfect position to jump.

With no time to think, Link launched himself into the murky waters below.

He surfaced, shaking his wet hat-covered hair, and looked above him. The two Rosulyla glared at him from stories above. "We'll find you, Advisor. We'll find you and skin you alive. Count your blessings for every second you're still breathing!" One of them called.

Link dove under the hazy waters once more, swimming the loop towards Hyrule Castle.

/

A soaking wet Link moved his heavy boots down the hall to Princess Zelda's quarters, the two guards outside staring at him strangely. "Is she busy?" he asked, still panting.

They shook their heads and he pushed open the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Zelda looked up from her book, reclined in her armchair, and immediately got to her feet. "Link, what happened?"

"I took a swim in the moat after being chased down by two Rosulyla guys. Friendly people. Can't see why you'd suspect them for wanting to assassinate you." He yanked the leather-bound notebook from his tunic, grateful that the binding seemed to have spared his notes from his watery journey. "These are my notes. You've got some bad news."

_Second time in one day that I've had people in that moat, _she thought, taking the notebook from him and flipping through it. "What did the Rosulyla say to you? How did you encounter them?"

"I was in an alley on the western side of town, eating lunch, when people just cleared out of the street. Took off running. Somebody rolled a bomb and then these three burly guys broke down a tavern door and demanded a daily collection from the barista there. She didn't have the money and it sounded like it was going bad, so I stepped in. I introduced myself as an Advisor to the Princess and commanded them to stop the violence, but if anything, mentioning that I worked for you seemed to infuriate them. I ended up stabbing one of them in the shoulder with the knife-I don't think it was enough to kill him, just to enrage him-and the other two chased me down. Luckily, I guessed that they couldn't swim, so I lost them. But they did threaten to find me and torture me."

Zelda frowned. "This doesn't surprise me, unfortunately, though it is good to know that my suspicions of them not being fond of me or anybody I directly hire are correct." With a sigh, she looked up at Link. "Well, they have you marked, now."

"So that's it? Forgive me, Princess Zelda, but I don't believe that I'm the only person that the Rosulyla wants to kill. They didn't act like they were good friends with _anyone_."

She looked at him. "If you go back out, what will you do?"

"I guess I'll keep tracking people down. People were mentioning writing to the Councilmen and getting lackluster responses, so I might go talk to them, check out the other parts of town, maybe even go out of Castle Town and into the other parts of the country. The only thing I ask is that I'm allowed access to a sword. The dagger I'm carrying-was carrying, was much too small to do any good."

Zelda eyed him for a good, long moment, tunic filthy from having gone swimming in the moat and chest still heaving with exertion. . .yet, he wanted to go back out and work for the cause again. Either loyal or stupid, Zelda could not tell. "You have access to any weapons you may desire, sword included. Go back to your suite. Wash your clothes. If you want to go back out, I thank you for your bravery. You know where to find me."

He nodded. "Thank you very much, Princess Zelda. Stay safe." He turned to leave.

"Wait. One more thing, Link. What do you know about the Twili?"

Link cocked his head. "Never heard of them."

"You might not be familiar with their real name. . .what about the Banished Ones?"

"I might have read something a long time ago...isn't that some fairy tale about another world? The Goddesses scorned them?" Link guessed, remembering an old book that he read once when he was barely a teenager in Ordon.

Zelda sighed. "So few know anything about our history. Yes, there is another world that used to be connected to this one. The texts call it the Twilight Realm. There is no day or night there. It is a land of eternal sunset. Those who populate it are descendents of the original Banished Ones, the multitudes of people who were banished there by the Goddesses for their transgression of seeking the ultimate power that the Golden Goddesses left for the world. For a few hundred years, there was a link between our worlds, called the Mirror of Twilight. The Sages-guardians of this world-cast off our greatest criminals through it. Long ago, a Princess from that realm and a Hero from this one banded together to save this realm of Light from Twilight, as well. When all was saved, the Princess shattered the Mirror, severing the realms forever.

"Or so we thought," Zelda added, her long fingers running through her hair.

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"Ralis has reported a sighting of a group of four Twili at Lake Hylia. He said that they didn't appear hostile, but he didn't talk to them, so nobody can be sure of their intentions. I am more than slightly concerned that their intentions aren't good. Hyrule is in no state to stave off political, economical, or plain out militant attacks from the long forgotten Twilight Realm, especially since from Ralis' description, the group that is visiting is composed of mages. Most Twilits are supposedly skilled in basic magics, but full out Shadow mages? That indicates power. It would take power, too, to find a new way into the Light Realm without the assistance of the Mirror of Twilight."

Link nodded and laughed without humor. "Now I can see why you're concerned. Rosulyla harassing citizens, unwilling or uncaring politicians, and Twili finding a way in, too? Should I go and try to find them?"

Zelda shook her head. "No. But if you see them, stop them and see if you can bring them to me."

"Can do, Princess Zelda. Again, stay safe. See you soon."


	8. Chapter 8

"Shhh!" Vaati whispered harshly, sweeping an arm out in front of Midna, who was about to take a step forward, out of the shadow of a large red brick structure. "Don't let them see you."

"Why?" She asked, peering around the corner at a group of pale-skinned families and couples, who were lounging around in chairs in front of the building. They were laughing and smiling, pointing at their children in the water, sipping glasses of a warm brown liquid that a waitress brought to them occasionally. They looked friendly enough.

"Because we don't exactly look like denizens of this realm!" Vaati sputtered. "They have pale skin, boring colored eyes, boring colored hair, and they're a lot shorter than us. We can't just walk out there."

"Not all of them look like that," Zant commented, pointing to a slender fish-like woman, stretched out across the rocks a few hundred feet away. Her feet were slightly webbed, her skin was a pale blue-green, and her hair was long and silvery.

"I didn't take this trip to hide in the shadows. Anyway, I want to be on our way to the capital tonight, so I don't want the first time we're seen to be at the most populated place possible."

"Well, umm, okay," Vaati stammered. "If we regret this, it's your fault..."

Midna stepped out and casually strolled around the corner and in the open doorway to the building, which resembled one of the Twilight Realm's restaurants, with tables and a long bar. Only a few customers were inside, most of them enjoying the outdoors. She stepped up to the bar and sat on one of the barstools, waiting for someone to scream or run away. One by one, the rest of her group followed her. Only Zant elicited a reaction.

A small little boy with green eyes and brown hair hopped off of his chair with his family and urgently tugged on Zant's hand. "Mister?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "Mister, what happened to your eyes?"

Midna burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hands and leaning forward onto the smooth dull wood of the bar. Zant's eyes, the one color standard for the Ashen Province, were composed of a burning gold, with no pupil. Even Ghirahim had pupils, although they were oversized, almost dominating his eyes. Zant grinned a little and looked down at the child. "That's a secret," he said, not cooing at the child or even leaning down to speak to him. It satisfied the boy nonetheless.

A server, a woman with long blonde hair and eyes as blue as the lake outside, walked up from behind the bar, taking a long look at the group, gaze finally settling on Midna. "You all stage performers from Castle Town, huh?"

Worse assumptions could have been made, so Midna nodded. "What kind of food do you have?"

The server pointed to their left, where a large section of the wall was painted white instead of the tan plaster. Large black scrawls of ink danced across it. "I'll give you a moment to choose. You came on a combo-on-the-house day. Any of the group meals listed are free of charge." she said, stalking off outside with another glass of the liquid from before.

Midna, Ghirahim, and Zant all squinted at the menu curiously, then confusedly. Vaati, who was leaning back, arms crossed, laughed. "What's the problem?" Midna turned her head and glared at him. He ignored her. "I'll order for everyone, since you-" he had to pause, he was so amused with himself, "can't read Hylian."

"I'm almost glad that I didn't let that Nabooru chop you into little pieces!" Midna chirped, earning a dark smile from the wind mage. "Wipe that smirk off your face, Windsy, before I decide to give you back to her. Oh, and order me something good. "

"Fine," he said, and he beckoned the server. "Four group plates of the trout and rice, please. And four glasses of ale."

"I thought you'd never been out of the desert, Vaati," Ghirahim commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I haven't. But they do purchase things from the mainland. At least, they used to."

After a short while, the food arrived, served on a heavy white plate with a heavy silver fork. A huge cut of trout was centered around a large serving of rice. The ale, which had a pungent smell that instantly repelled Zant and intrigued Midna and Ghirahim, came with the food. No one asked questions about what they were actually eating; they were too hungry to really care. Soon enough, the food was cleared from their plates and the questions began.

"Vaati, what did I just eat?"

"See that thing on the wall?" He pointed to a large mounted fish. "Something like that."

Midna made a face and shrugged. "Despite the ungodly heat, I have to say, the food here is decent. Diverse, at least," she commented. "I'm used to those thin cuts of Shadow Kangoroks and such."

"We're the cursed ones, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

/\\\\\\\\\\

All things considered, it was probably a bad idea for Link to go out at night.

He still wasn't absolutely familiar with Castle Town and he didn't know if Rosulyla had more people prowling the streets at night, but upon overhearing a few guards talk about the tavern just outside of the castle grounds and its usual powerful patrons, he really couldn't refuse the opportunity to gather any information.

Besides, he didn't have to walk directly into town-just a short walk across the Castle's courtyard and straight ahead, barely into the square, then left, directly into the doorway of the tavern. Torches burned brightly outside of the Thirsty Hylian, lighting the entrance easily, and Link stepped in the door.

It was a low hum of noise inside, the clatter of dishes and mugs. The more casual looking patrons sat at the bar, while the well-dressed and wealthy looking ones lounged at tables, engaged in lively conversations. A few of them wore pure golden tunics with feathered hats, a few even adorned with light red capes-all signs of nobility and status. Politicians and Councilmen, Advisors and other high positions.

Link, still dressed in his green tunic, hat, brown boots, and cape, suddenly felt a little underdressed. He trusted that Zelda wouldn't have stocked the wardrobe with anything that marked poverty, but whether or not his colors indicated career status was up in the air. He knew he was supposed to look new to the job, so any naivety on his part could be understood. He hoped so, at least.

Removing his hat and running his fingers through his hair, he exhaled through his teeth and walked to a two-chair table with an older gentleman in the more formal golden attire. He looked wealthy. "Good evening," Link said. "Is somebody sitting here?"

The man smiled, kindly, grandfatherly. "No, it's just me, for the time being. Please, feel free to take a seat."

Link smiled in response and sat down, carefully draping his floppy hat on the top of the chair.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before," the man continued. "And I know most people who come here. You're also wearing an old Advisor's outfit. Are you newly appointed?"

"Yes. I'm Link," he introduced himself, offering a hand.

"Paul Bablin." The man shook his hand, not bothering to stand for introductions.

Link had to keep his poker face steady. He knew who this was; a Councilman, the highest position other than the Princess herself. Elected by the people of Hyrule, widely despised and greatly feared. "It's an honor to meet one of the Councilmen, Mr. Bablin."

Mr. Bablin laughed. "Oh, it gets old every now and again. My wife wants me to retire-or, rather, not run for reelection. . .but there's something wonderful about serving your country, isn't there?" Pausing mid sentence, he flagged down one of the bartenders who was passing out brews to a nearby table. "Two glasses of red."

Link mentally noted that despite his rather nice demeanor, the Councilmen spoke to his 'lowers' with a sort of authority that threw all politeness to hell. It brought the complaints of the citizens he had talked to earlier in the day to mind. The fears they faced every day and the desperation in writing to the Councilmen, yet their efforts being in vain... He also bristled at the 'serving the country' remark.

It was a moral dilemma. Link considered it for a moment. He thought of himself as an honest person and under _any_ other circumstance, he would get right to the point with someone who was so far removed from the people who put their hopes in them. . .even a Councilman. But this was not any other circumstance, so Link thought quickly and tried to lie as little as possible.

"Hyrule loud, Hyrule proud," he grinned. "Personally, I'm from Ordon and it's a huge responsibility for me, going through the military ranks and then making Advisor..."

"Ordon is quaint. . .took the kids on a little farm day trip there once," Paul replied. "Whose Advisor are you?"

Link scrambled for an answer. He knew that Zelda and Councilmen all had a few Advisors, people who did odd tasks that were too far above a servant's head to ask of them. Zelda mainly appointed them for the Archives, while the Councilmen used them for errand running and meetings. He recalled Zelda's words:

"_All four of the Councilmen-Eric Salonden and Paul Bablin, and Peter Zoten and Samuel Mastes-are constantly in disagreement of me. They try to sway me to sign off on destructive legislation, and when I refuse, they smear me for it, enraging the population towards the Royal Council, and towards me. Whenever I propose a raid looking for Ganon or perhaps delivering food to some of the starving ranchers, something goes wrong. Somebody dies, something is missing...I have good reason to believe that someone is pulling the strings, whether it be a politician or one of the Rosulyla, perhaps both."_

Princess Zelda's words rung in his ears, clear as day. Even more recently, his encounter with the Rosulyla worried him. He was quickly learning that the rulers of this country, both its criminals and its officials, were not in favor of her, and her employees were just as despised.

But without her, he had no leverage, so he sighed. "Well, sir, the Princess Zelda appointed me. Sort of a disappointment-not that serving Hyrule in any form isn't a good position, but I was hoping to be a political Advisor to an elected official, like yourself or perhaps Mr. Salendon." He left out the Karkest Councilmen altogether, knowing the chasm that bred a deep form of hate between the two groups.

If it were a test, he passed. Paul Bablin's eyes sparkled with amusement and a little bit of smugness, clearly having taken the bait from Link's false flattery. "You never know-if you do such good work for any branch of our fair government, you might be able to work under elected officials one day!"

Link smiled and silently contemplated the fact that he would rather clean the sewers or manage ranch horse stalls than work under an elected official that had the attitude of Paul Bablin.

A young looking Zora woman with coral earrings that swung down to her shoulders alongside her long silvery hair slammed the two glasses down on the table, a little wine spilling over.

"You spilled a little," Paul commented with a frown.

She looked at him, blue skin catching the torchlight of the tavern and throwing shadows. Her eyes were dark with recognition of who was talking to her, but she didn't seem to care. "That's terribly unfortunate, Mr. Bablin." She pulled a cloth from the belt of the black dress she wore and tossed it onto the table. "Please accept the cloth as my most sincere apology."

The Zora server turned on her heel and left.

"So unfortunate, the underclass of this country. Wouldn't you agree, Link?"

Link grit his teeth and chose his words carefully, almost hoping that he would somehow find leads that led him to discover Bablin as a want-to-be assassin, just to get him out of office, perhaps get him executed. "Well, I think that a lot of them were raised in the same underclass environment as their parents. I'm not sure about what the Zora Domain is like, because I like to speak from first hand experience and I've never been there myself. Generally, though, class breeds class, filth breeds filth...evil breeds evil." Link took a long drink of his wine, his eyes meeting the Councilman's, staring demurely at him while the words he hated spilled from his mouth.

"You seem smart, Link. What work are you doing as Zelda's Advisor?"

He tried to remember what he had said to the Goron smith earlier in the day. "I'm on a

research mission. Filing things in the Archives, going over business protocol, criminal activity, state of affairs, the like. A bit of this, a bit of that."

Paul Bablin laughed. "Sounds just like something that the Princess Zelda would hire someone as intelligent as yourself to do. Waste of resources. I give my wife's servants better treatment than that. Let them have their aspirations. I treat my children's friends better than that, even if they're poor."

The aristocratic statement got Link's attention, but not for its insulting connotation. Bablin truly was making himself a good suspect for somebody that would like Zelda gone. He didn't have a huge respect for human life in general and he repeatedly subtly insulted the Princess.

His mind briefly wandered to the Zora waitress, wondering if she could give him some information about the political guests, and he scanned the room for her.

"Looking for that rude servant, Link? I'd want a word with her myself."

"Something like that. Maybe see if she's following business codes, give her a fine. I'll go find her in a moment. But I do have one question for you."

"Asking advice is never shameful, no matter your position, Link. What is it?"

Link had to fight to keep a smile off his face as he twisted the truth again. "I started getting letters from citizens concerned about the 'authenticity' of my research, saying I needed to research their part of the country for an accurate picture. I'm sure you know the type. What do you do about them?"

Paul Bablin threw his head back and laughed, white teeth flashing vividly in the torchlight of the tavern. The sound grated at Link's ears. "Well, you see, Link, I have one of my nice young scholar-writers send a generic little letter back saying that I thank them for their concern with current affairs and appreciate their continued trust in me. I think that confuses them enough that they decide it's best left in my hands."

The words etched themselves into the recesses of Link's mind, sent shivers down his spine, but again, he forced a smile. _He'll get what's coming to him, _he vowed to himself. "Sounds like a good way to get rid of them, Mr. Bablin." He took another drink, though he certainly didn't feel in the mood to be inebriated. "Well, I guess I'd better go hunt down that servant. It certainly was an honor to meet you, Mr. Bablin. Keep up your good work."

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Link! Keep slaving under Zelda and maybe we'll be able to work together one of these days. . .you know, talk some sense into her." He laughed. "Good evening."

Link grabbed his hat and cape, nodding and standing from the table before weaving through the throng of patrons. It was dim enough from the torchlight that lit the walls, but the shadows that people cast made the floor a maze of darkness.

The server stood in the corner, scooping brew out of a dark barrel. Link approached her and she fluidly stepped back, eyes widening. She almost looked...scared. Her defiance from earlier faded.

"Can we have a word?"

Her jaw set, skin paling. "I-"

A burly bartender glared at her. "Dima, have some respect!" He looked to Link. "You can talk to the server in the back room down the hall. . .Advisor?"

"Thank you, sir." He glanced at the Zora-apparently named Dima-and tilted his head. "Shall we go?"

She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a prayer, brushing a curtain back behind the crowded bar and leading Link down the dark hallway, to what looked like a dank break room, with crates of wine and beer adorning it. A long wooden bench stretched across both bordering walls, and she brushed some crumbs off of the seat and gestured for Link to sit.

"I'm very sorry about spilling your drink, Advisor." She shut the door to the room with a thud.

Link shook his head. "No, no, that's not what I'm here about. My name is Link. I'm an Advisor for the Princess Zelda."

Her eyes narrowed. "I've never seen you before and you sound like you're from somewhere outside of Castle Town, so perhaps you don't quite understand the gravity of your situation. Out in the countryside, you can get away with playing nice, but here, you can't. You were having drinks with a Councilman. A Bachest Councilman, at that, and you're an Advisor of the Princess? If you desire a political career, there's a good probability that you just killed it. There's no common ground between Crown and Council here. If you want to keep your current job, you should pray that none of Zelda's other workers saw you this evening."

Link was a little amazed at the absolutely pessimistic attitude in Castle Town, as well as the naivety that the rest of the country had about the extent of the political deadlock in the capital town. He shook his head. "I've heard that a few times today. But I'm catching on. Either way, I'm doing a research project for the Archives and recording public opinion on various government issues. I have a few complaints about Councilmen and you seem to have some kind of record with Paul Bablin. Can you tell me more?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Advisor, but I cannot afford to be bad mouthing some of the best patrons of this bar."

"I swear that I won't tell. Really, I want unbiased information in this record. I don't want anybody to be influenced by fear. I'm just looking for the truth...you know, why are you working here, any information or complaints you have about policies, that sort of thing."

Dima bit her lip, mulling it over. Finally, she shrugged, earrings bouncing. "I'm clearly originally from the Zora Domain. A lot of work just got cut up there; there's not much of a market for coral, and even the fishing business is waning. I heard that it was the same in Faron and Eldin and the rest of Lanayru, though Lanayru is mostly tourism, so I suppose they're doing a bit better. A lot of locals up in the Zora Domain got sick and I have a family to support, so I came down to Castle Town, where there isn't a shortage of people in need of a drink." She sighed shakily and shook her head.

Link nodded, reminded of his own story. To encourage her, he said, "That's...how I originally came to Castle Town, too. I'm from Ordon, in Faron Woods. A lot of ranch work just...there just wasn't need for it. Suddenly, nothing we were farming was worth anything, because the poor can't afford it and the rich won't eat it. People are in bad situations. That's why I came to Castle Town, before I...got appointed."

Dima nodded, maybe a little more willing to talk after hearing Link's story. "It's. . .I mean, I'm no happier than the next citizen over how politics are going. The Councilmen don't seem to be doing anything other than arguing and Princess Zelda apparently doesn't have the authority to strike them down. It's gridlock and it's costing the citizens a lot. I see it first hand here, too. The politicians are bad. City guardsmen will do anything for a rupee. Councilmen don't care what's going on, as long as they have a long line of wine glasses and voluptuous women to entertain them. Even Paul Bablin, the self proclaimed 'family man.'" She snorted. "And, just between you and me, Advisor Link? If you want my honest opinion? I don't think the Councilmen are running anything. Neither is the Princess, no offense meant, but you know who I see getting things _done?_ The Rosulyla."

"They're criminals. I had a run in with them earlier."

"Oh, absolutely. I'm not disputing their cruelty. But somehow, they're working this system. I've heard of it, and I'm sure you have, too. Nothing is getting done." Raspela rubbed her fingers together. "It's my belief that this entire thing is about greed. Which is a shame. I never vote for any of our current Councilmen and I don't see how they're getting reelected. But they are. That's my two rupees, Advisor. You want to put public opinion into the Archives? We're unhappy, we're desperate, we're seeing our countrymen starve, and we're getting shoved around by the Rosulyla and our politicians."

Link grimly nodded. "I truly mean this-not just lip service-that I really appreciate your honesty. While we're at it...do you have anything to say about the Councilmen in particular?"

"The Bachests are both rude bastards. There has always been talk of them being with whores. They're greedy. But the Karkests aren't much better. Yeah, they might act nice to you, but they're almost encouraging the guards to stand by and let the Rosulyla run the streets. I don't know if you've noticed, but most of the city guards aren't even carrying bows, let alone swords. The Rosulyla..." she grinned and then shook her head, crossing her arms. "Well, let's put it this way. I'm a Zora and we've always been a little separated from Hyrule. We have some of our own records. There was a day and age were 'mages' were abundant, as I'm sure you know. People who were not only trained in swordsplay and weapons, but magic. Manipulating elements. People like to pretend they don't exist any longer, but the Rosulyla have that quality about them. They're too strong. What do you think unarmed guards will be willing to do to mages?"

"Nothing at all," Link sighed.

She nodded in affirmation. "Not the greatest point in our history. I wonder how it's going to turn out."

Link let out a quiet laugh. "I honestly don't know. But I'm hoping for the best."

Dima smirked. "Hoping and praying. We need somebody to save us, after all."

A clock in the room chimed midnight. "Well, I had best be going. Midnight is the end of my working shift and I want to be back in the Domain by dawn. It's a long, cold swim home."

The sentence froze Link. "You swim?"

She giggled and gestured to her aquatically evolved form, long, streamlined, with slippery skin and slightly webbed feet. "In the moat, until it reaches the northern side of the castle, where the Zora River connects to it. Then I follow that back home."

He remembered the murky, scummy waters of the moat and frowned, imagining having that as a road home. "That's incredible."

Dima smiled. "It's not that hard, when I see how some people live here in Castle Town...I'm grateful that I have the Zora Domain to go home to." She turned and opened the door into the hall. "Goodbye, Advisor. Good luck with your research."

As soon as she stepped out into the hall, though, she gasped and spun back into the room, shutting the door. "Goddesses, the Councilman's two assistants are coming down the hall."

Link's eyebrows rose. "Is that a bad thing?"

"They think that if a servant is rude, they need to be beaten. Quick-"

In that instant, he was ready to give it up, to give up his mission _just_ to do something about her treatment. But he didn't. "I'm not going to hit you." He pulled a red rupee out of his pocket-the last of his short change-and handed it to her. "Get down on the ground." Thinking quickly, he grabbed a bottle from one of the crates and smashed it onto the floor, an explosion of glass resounding and dark red wine spilling like blood. He raised the other half of the bottle, as if to bring it down-

The door opened and two men-Link assumed them to be Bablin's assistants, but upon further inspection, they looked to fall more into the 'body guard' category-stepped in. "Councilmen Bablin wanted to know if you found the girl you were looking for. The bartender said we'd find you back here."

Link dropped the bottle to the ground, more glass sprinkling the floor. "I did, thank you. I don't think she'll be spilling drinks any time soon. Will you, now?"

Dima shook her head, a shaky sound coming from her chest. Link almost figured it to be a laugh, disguised as a choke, but he wasn't sure.

The two assistants laughed. One of them spoke. "Councilmen Bablin was right. You're a smart kid."

"Too bad he works under the Princess," the other muttered.

"Thank you, gentlemen." He looked at Dima, his voice hard but eyes soft, conveying the apology for the show. "Go on. Get out of here. Out of my sight."

She nodded, meeting his eyes and softening her own. "I hope my insolence doesn't cause you all to stop being patrons of this establishment." Her voice was sturdy, automatic, robotic as she grabbed the remaining structure of the broken bottle off the floor and pushed past the assistants to get into the hallway. Link held his breath, eyes training on Bablin's assistants until Dima's footsteps faded.

"She's always been trouble to our fair Councilman, Advisor. But we think she might just be nervous around him because she admires him so," one of them said, voice high pitched. Link looked at him. He was slightly shorter than the other one, more robust. Rat-like.

Link chuckled darkly. "Nervous. Seems a lot of people are that way nowadays. And some with good reason." He made no move to clarify, but clapped his hands together. "Nice to meet both of you. It was an _honor_ to drink with the Councilmen Bablin this evening."

They both grinned, eyes glinting in the dim light. "We hope we'll be seeing more of you, Advisor Link. Our interests might just be mutual."

"I keep close friends," Link respond, shortly, still with a smile on his face. _And closer enemies._

/

He sat in bed, staring at the ceiling, coming to the realization that sleep wasn't going to arrive any time soon. In fact, considering the events of the past twenty four hours, he wasn't sure he was ever going to rest again.

Link wondered if Zelda ever slept. She had known about this for far longer than he had, she had been hunted and despised by the Rosulyla and the Councilmen far longer than he had. Though he wasn't despised by the Councilmen, and that was even more sickening.

He thought about Paul Bablin long and hard. Was he capable of hatching a plan to assassinate the Princess? Absolutely. Would he carry it out? Maybe, maybe not. He seemed to hide behind authority a lot. The guards had mentioned a lot of 'common interests' regarding Link possibly 'working' with Bablin...almost making it sound like they would plot _against_ Zelda.

Link sighed, frustrated. He was sitting in one of the lushest, most beautifully designed rooms he had ever laid eyes upon, full of regal furniture and tall ceilings, and yet he was missing the barracks; rather, the simplicity that came with his time in the barracks.

But he couldn't erase what he had seen from his memory, not now, not ever. He didn't want honor or glory. He wanted to give the Princess a simple answer of who was causing all of this and who wanted her gone, and go back to his duties as a a huff, he rolled out of bed. Moonlight sliced through the large window and he used it to guide him to the large desk table on the wall. He lit one of the mounted torches, relieved when light flooded the chamber, and then threw a couple of logs into the fireplace.

Satisfied with the warmth, he sat at the desk and yanked a quill out of a jar, dipping it in ink, unravelling two scrolls of paper.

One was for Zelda, and one was for himself. On the first, he wrote of Paul Bablin and his comments regarding the Princess, the treatment of the Zora servant, and furthering the complaints of the shopkeepers in the western part of town. On the second, he wrote down a neat list of the thoughts jumbling around in his head. The Councilmen. The Rosulyla. Corruption. Hunger. Threats. He remembered Zelda talking about the Twili, so he wrote them down, too.

He examined it when he was done writing it and came to the realization that it was his to-do list.

"No sleep for the righteous," he muttered to himself, running his fingers through his hair and crossing the room to the long, tall mahogany wardrobe. He opened its doors and examined the contents. One side of the wardrobe was clothing, the other side was weaponry.

Link wondered if every guest suite came with a miniature armory, or if he were just getting special treatment. _No matter,_ he thought, running his hands over the sheathed blades and rapiers, stroking fingers over finely carved bows.

He remembered his earlier words to Zelda about wanting a sword and decided on one in an ornate golden sheath, shiny enough to pass for decoration. He unsheathed it and admired the gloss of the blade. It felt a little slippery in his hands-thin enough for him to wonder if it was some kind of hybrid between a fighting blade and a fencing blade. Ultimately, though, the other ones looked far too 'serious' for him to be lugging them through Castle Town, so he would have to deal with the anomaly of a sword.

A quick glance out the room's window, with an onyx sky dotted with streams of clouds threatening to band together, told Link that dawn would be within the hour, the black of night slowly fading to a chalkier gray. That, too, would grow lighter and give birth to blue skies, as long as the cloud cover didn't persist.

Link thought of the improvised "to do" list. He needed to find out about the other politicians, but they were truly depressing him. Maybe he would take a day to interview people in other parts of the town, perhaps even venture outside of town and slightly into the countryside. It would give him some breathing room from the Rosulyla, at least.

But, first things first. He needed to talk to Zelda.


	9. Chapter 9

Link was waiting outside of Zelda's room, dressed and ready for the day, before the guards even showed up. He had the good grace to be patient until grayish sunrise light filtered through the hall windows before knocking quietly on the door to her chamber. Moments later, a frazzled looking Princess opened the door, dressed in a white and gold dress with a blue Hylian Crest on its chest. Her hair was parted back into a braid and her eyes had deep circles under them. She hadn't yet put her crown on, either.

"You're around early," she said, eying his green tunic, which had a few extra leather pouches on its belt, and the gleaming sword at his waist.

"I'd like to talk to you."

She guided him into the room and sat down on the edge of her bed, arms crossed over her chest. "What happened?"

He took the folded up note from his tunic pocket and handed it to her. "Here's a quick list. I spent last evening with Paul Bablin. I'm not sure who I'm more convinced is more excited to assassinate you-Bablin or the Rosulyla. But I've only met one of the Councilmen, and you say they're all giving you trouble. They're looking for enemies of yours to be friends of theirs, that's for sure."

Zelda frowned. "Paul Bablin is actually one of the more cooperative ones, as far as they go. It's disconcerting that he seemed so radical to you."

Link nodded. "Yeah, he wasn't fond of you. Not a really pleasant guy altogether. I nearly blew it when a Zora server happened to spill his drink. He sent me back to 'teach her a lesson' or something like that. I talked to her, got some more information. It's not a good situation. Nobody is happy. There's a lot more to cover, too. I want to talk to the Councilmen and find out more about the Rosulyla. What are the chances that they could be working together?" As he finished speaking, he realized that his formality was slipping. He didn't really care, at this point, with no sleep.

"It's possible," she allowed. Zelda sighed and put her head in her hands. "You're correct in that there is an impossible amount of things needed to be researched. No stone can be left unturned. So, I have a proposition for you."

He rose his eyebrows. "What would that be?"

"We can't afford to make any more enemies in this situation. I talked to Ralis again and it seems that our Twilit visitors are heading towards Castle Town. They should be here this morning, perhaps early this afternoon."

"You want me to make friends?" Link was slightly incredulous.

"Something of the sort. Show them the way to my castle and we could make powerful allies, which, from the information you've given me, is a necessity."

The room darkened slightly and Link stole a glance out of Zelda's window. The sun was barely up and already being eaten away by clouds.

He exhaled through his teeth. Link had an average understanding of history and from Zelda's brief interlude on the more recent history of the Twili, he didn't see how befriending them could help the situation, except by making more waves. Not to mention, there was still a bit of confusion on the subject of whether or not the Twilit visitors were even _friendly. _And the fact that they were banished by the Goddesses didn't help.

_What's a couple more enemies? _Link thought. He nodded at Zelda. "Where are they coming from, again? Lake Hylia?"

"Yes. They won't be hard to spot, unless they put on some manner of disguises. Even if they do, look for a group of four people, all over six feet tall."

"I'll start heading out that way, then," he said. There was only one way to get into Castle Town from Lake Hylia, and that was to follow the Eastern Path that fed right through the eastern part of town and into the square.

The Princess nodded, grateful once again. "I'll see you soon."

/

"Goddessdammit, again," Midna growled. A splash of water pelted her from the sky and she yanked on her high-knee walking boots. They fit like gloves-which she also happened to be wearing-over the dark material jumpsuit she had chosen for the supposedly long walk into Castle Town. Warping was not an option for the sake of remaining slightly more inconspicuous in this land, devoid of magic.

The Lake Hylia, unlike yesterday, when it had been brimming with tourists and Hylians, was deserted. Puffy gray clouds spilled out over the horizon, blocking out the sky and the sun. Vaati called them 'rain clouds' that released water down from the skies.

"I'm not liking the weather here, Ghirahim," Midna announced, offering him her hand. He yanked her to her feet and she smoothed her leggings. Looking at her travelling companions as more rain started to release, she groaned and summoned a black cloak from her Shadow Storage, pulling it over her body and letting its hood shadow her face. It hung down to her ankles.

Vaati did the same, though his cloak's hood was tinged with swirls of violet. Ghirahim's matched, with a red accent, Zant's adorned with blue markings on the back.

"Way to get showy," she grumbled. "Alright, genius Vaati, show us the way."

Vaati rolled his eyes and pointed to a ramp carved into the side of the lake's basin wall, which helped to accent the fact that the lake could rise more than a few feet if the rain was heavy enough. It led up to higher ground and then connected to what looked like a stone bridge heading east and west. A few other buildings were on the banks surrounding them and started to close shutters and doors. They started off, up the large ramp.

/

Something felt off about Castle Town.

Link had had the good sense to grab a green cloak before he left the Castle. Rain splashed down from the sky in an intermittent way, wetting the Castle's courtyard, and he headed due south into the main square. The crowd was lighter than usual, probably due to the weather, but a few vendors had still set up shop and attracted customers.

He paused and leaned against a stone archway leading back up to the castle, pulling his hood down over his face, making no move to conceal the sword at his waist. He couldn't name whatever hung in the air, but it was...bad. It quickened his steps over the cobblestone.

A clap of thunder roared across the sky and Link sighed. By Zelda's calculations, the Twilit guests wouldn't be here for hours more. It wouldn't hurt, then, to stop a grab a quick cup of tea and perhaps let the storm clouds roll farther out. He was in a much better area than he was in the previous days; the Rosulyla didn't take chances with any guards from the Castle ruining their operations, so they stayed away from the main square, where Link now stood.

A cafe a few steps ahead caught his eye, and he walked in. It had a few patrons that looked as though they were permanent residents of the place, sipping at coffee and nibbling pastries, engaged in quiet conversations. A chirpy young woman with short, spiked brown hair took his order and he gratefully picked out some sweet berry tart from the display shelves, along with black tea.

He took a seat at one of the tables, not intending to talk to any citizens, but they found him, anyway.

"Are you an Advisor?" A young girl, probably no more than twelve, approached his table. Her hair was dark and hung in little ringlets by her head. She was wearing a long blue overcoat, eyes green and wide in curiousity.

Link nodded. "I am."

"Can girls be Advisors?"

He smiled, bemused. "I think so. Though, if you can keep a secret, I'm pretty new to the job, so I don't know exactly. But Princess Zelda is a girl, so I bet they can be."

Her eyes, somehow, got wider. "Really? I want to be an Advisor, but my brother _always_ says that girls shouldn't be Advisors. You must be really rich and famous."

Link was probably more _in_famous than he was famous, and he certainly wasn't rich, but he grinned anyway. "Not that rich. I just like to help people, and I like to help Hyrule."

The girl smiled. "I'm on my way to the my study school and I'm going to tell all of my friends that I met an Advisor!"

He couldn't help but laugh. In Ordon, there had been minimal schooling for the children, just basics in addition to farm work. He could imagine, however, how fun it would be for a child to meet a public figurehead, who were constantly talked about in Castle Town. "Absolutely do that. Study hard, too."

"I will! Thanks, Mr. Advisor!" She skittered away from the table and to the cafe entrance, where a matronly woman took her hand and guided her outside.

Besides the little girl who had come to talk to him, nobody else bothered Link. Rain sloshed down outside, but he heard no more thunder. Moments passed, lapsing into about an hour. Finally, Link finished off his tea mug and regrettably decided that it was time to suck it up and walk the path towards Lake Hylia in the rain.

He exited the cafe, pulled up his hood, and stepped out into the square-

Just in time to wish that he hadn't.

Carts rolled in from three different directions-all entrances to the square take aside the Castle- being pushed like rafts on water, chattering noisily as the wooden wheels propelled them forward. A group of people sat on the sides of the carts, all dressed the same, as others pushed them forward.

Link recognized the black and red cloaks.

People scattered and ran for cover-into the cafes-and Link immediately realized that his presence was going to be a problem. He ran for the place he had just eaten, only to find the door locked shut, with weight pushing from the other side. "Dammit," he hissed, pulling his cloak down over his face and leaning into the shadow of a wooden support under the entryway to the locked eatery.

The guards outside of the path to the Castle were running up the hill and pulling levers on a side wall, closing a gate Link had not realized was there. A few burlier citizens who had been in the square-some Goron vendors and customers, in particular, stood their ground. They looked resolute, like they would rather die than leave.

The Rosulyla members on the carts jumped off, wielding gleaming steel weapons, and stood off in a deadly stance across from those left in the square.

"Pay us and leave."

"No," one Goron vendor boomed in response. "You might be able to push around the shopkeepers in the other areas of town, but the square is so close to the Castle that there's no way you could ever pull this off. Foolhardy to try."

A Rosulyla laughed. "Your Castle guards have closed the gates."

As soon as those words were out, arrows rained down from guards on top of arch to the Castle path, who had clearly not abandoned their posts; they had just secured the Castle. Now, they were taking positions on top of the tall stone rampart on the outside of the moat, looking over Castle Town.

It was as though chaos came with the arrows. One of the Gorons took a swing at the Rosulyla who had been speaking, prompting shouting and the beginning of what Link could only describe as a demonstration-a sea of black and red against the citizens, descending among fires that blazed, even in the rain, brightly as they consumed the carts.

Death threat or not, Link unsheathed his sword and stepped out of the shadows.

/

The streets of eastern Castle Town were dashed with people running about their daily business, though, admittedly, they seemed to be sticking to the sides of buildings to avoid the rain. Midna couldn't blame them. Her cloak, though it helped her blend in, certainly wasn't made of material that shielded her from the effects of water, soaking her. She had seen a few travelling Light Dwellers in coats that seemed to redirect the water, sliding down instead of absorbing. She made a mental note to find whoever was selling them and demand one for herself.

When they had first entered town from the road from Lake Hylia, the group had stopped to observe the skyline, dotted with tall buildings and, most notably, the grand Castle. The structures were much smoother, more rounded and detailed than the ones in their home realm. The spires of the castle looked like knives, stabbing upwards into the stormy sky. Midna wasn't all that impressed.

"Vaati," Ghirahim said, stepping over a puddle, "I trust that you've kept the Gerudo Nabooru's...bargain letter?"

"He has," Midna answered. "I'm sure it's a cheery little weight in his shadow."

"I can speak for myself, Princess," the wind mage chimed.

She rolled her eyes and continued walking. "As soon as we do whatever it is we're doing at that stupid, oversized hulk that they call a Castle, I want a drink. Oh, since we got our food free yesterday, how do we even get food? Does anybody know what type of cash they use here?"

"From what I've read, they use gems called rupees for currency. I don't think we have any," Zant informed them, no hint of humor. Midna wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't just an automated system inside of a Twili's body.

Midna held up a finger, gesturing for the group to stop, all hints of a smile having left her face. "Am I just weird, or do you smell that?"

They all paused.

"Something smells...charred. And rotten." Vaati frowned.

Ghirahim held out a gloved hand and a blazing red flame materialized in his palm, the ember staying alive even as rain spat at it. He extinguished it seconds later. "It's the scent of a magic flame, or something deviant of it. The magic we use in the Twilight Realm must be more refined, as what we're smelling is positively putrid."

Midna frowned. "Who is using magic flames to burn something in the middle of a downpour? Idiots..."

Vaati cocked his head to the side. "Be quiet and listen closer. Sounds like brawling."

Midna cracked her knuckles. "Guess Nabooru might just be right about the state of affairs in this soggy little land. Get ready, boys, we're running on a deadline." She took off sprinting, rain pelting her cloak, and the rest of the group rushed to catch up with her.

Curiosity piqued, Midna was a force unstoppable. They barrelled through the streets, which grew more and more desolate, until they saw it. She threw her arms out, stopping the group in their tracks.

"Is that..."

"A riot?"

Up ahead, in what appeared to be the central square, carts were toppled and engulfed in flames. People seemed to be fighting, and Midna could not distinguish side from side in the chaos. Everyone that she could see was engaged in some form of violent activity, ranging from fighting to toppling displays or throwing things through glass windows.

"Think we can skirt around it?" Vaati asked.

"No chance in hell. I came all this way. Let's see what this is about."

/

"Heyo, you're that damn Advisor of Zelda's that stabbed one of our guys in that shop the other day!"

Link swore and rolled as he hit the ground, barely getting out of the way of the huge mace that the Rosulyla thug he was fighting threw at where he had been only seconds ago. His hood had fallen down, and either there weren't many blonde haired, blue eyed men in Castle Town or the men he had run into yesterday had spread the word.

It didn't particularly matter. He snatched his sword and brought it up to deflect another enemy. An arrow whizzed by his head and he made a run for the other side of the square, where an old woman was cowering behind one of the only still-standing carts, yet another Rosulyla with a long blade hanging over her.

He made a hit on the man's arm, sending him into a rage and splattering blood onto the ground, but giving Link enough time to grab the old lady. "Go, go!" He hastily commanded her, ducking as the injured Rosulyla regained his footing clumsily. The woman did so and Link ducked under the man's arm.

The Goron vendors were holding their own in what looked like-hand-to-hand combat, but Link sensed that civilian casualties weren't the purpose of this demonstration. No, it was the fires, with their incense-like smell and inability to be put out by the rain that was falling.

Link's hesitation in observing was detected be an unoccupied Rosulyla, who came charging at him. Link took off running, aiming to perhaps jump up on a stack of crates and-do what?-but his footing fell from under him, the cobblestones slick with water- he stumbled forwards, trying to get a grip on the ground with the heels of his boots...

The Rosulyla man cried out and fell as well, feet flying up from beneath him. Link, seeing another set of cloaks, swung blindly as rain fell in his eyes, and his blade was easily taken from him as another set of hands gripped it at the hilt. The black cloak of another freakishly large Rosulyla was right in front of him, and he punched its abdomen-

Both parties involved paused just long enough for Link to back away and realize that it was not, in fact, the Rosulyla.

Link was staring into, single handedly, the strangest eyes he had ever seen. They had no whites-red rimmed with yellow-and were somehow still natural looking. That was not a surprise, paired with the blue skin and purple lips of the face he was staring at. She was mostly obscured by her cloak, but Link could see that she was incredibly tall and slim, with long facial features that suggested an exotic form of beauty.

She was a Twili woman, who had backed up as well with an indignant expression. She held his long, thin blade, a rapier, in her hand.

"Hey, short stuff, that hurt like a son of a-"

An arrow came flying through the sky and, somewhat lazily, Midna raised her hand towards it, flattening her palm. As it flew, the arrow dissipated into black particles.

_Mages._ Link remembered that they would be called mages. "I'm so sorry-I thought-you were one of the Rosulyla-"

"Not a very good apology, buddy, but I'll go ahead and be graceful and let it slide. Rosulyla? Are they the ones stirring this shit?"

Link blinked, a little surprised at her brash language-certainly she was of high position in her Realm to be sent here-but answered her."Yes. They're in red and black cloaks-I think all they want to do is torch the stalls and do property damage, but I can't put it out and there are too many-" he paused, turning to face a real Rosulyla behind him, looking for his sword at his waist but remembering that the woman had disarmed him. The man in front of him lifted another metal mace above his head, about to bring it down, when he was suddenly hundreds of feet away, at the other side of the square. The woman turned to one of her group members.

"Good one, Vaati. , Ghirahim, Zant. Go spare me the trouble of picking up the bill for renovating this wasteland. Show the friendly thugs a taste of their own medicine. Go on. Be the showy assholes I know you are."

Link saw three more freakishly tall people-all in black cloaks, yet, upon closer inspection, colored _slightly _differently from the Rosulyla-go out from behind the woman and take a running start towards the burning stalls. One of them, the shortest of the group, threw his hands out and seemed to...blow the fires out? Huge winds pushed the heavy carts, still ablaze, backwards.

"Don't gawk, they'll get snotty. I'm Princess Midna, by the way. Of the Twilight Realm. Ever heard of it?"

Link looked at her amazedly. Maybe everyone in her Realm spoke bluntly. "It's an honor. Princess Zelda has been expecting you. I'm her...Advisor, Link." He could easily correct that lie later, if Zelda asked. The chaos around him started to dim as Rosulyla realized that the Twili-who, to them, must look like freakishly tall, magically able Hylians-were fighting against them.

"Good. Spares me the trouble of having to take you hostage to shove my way into that hulking Castle." Again, Link flinched a little, eyes flickering to her face to gauge if she was serious. She was smiling amusedly.

They were both distracted momentarily by cries on part of the Rosulyla. It seems that the three men that Midna had called Ghirahim, Zant, and Vaati were...surprising the Rosulyla, who clearly had never been surprised by elements of magic or plain out militant tactics before.

They were scattering, and one of the Twilis was manifesting gold and red diamonds that whizzed through the air after them, herding them out like cows, almost scraping against their skin, tearing through their cloaks to speed them. The citizens in the crossfire, unable to distinguish the Twili from the Rosulyla, were also being herded out, forced to retreat. _Much_ to Link's surprise, it was working-the Rosulyla were running for their lives. Call it dumb luck or call it an element of surprise, but they were leaving the square.

_Well, at least they're going to be wanted now, too. _Maybe it would help with the argument of getting some help. Clearly, they were capable of offering some sort of assistance, though their intentions of arrival still weren't clear. Their Princess, while unusual, seemed nice enough.

And, the Rosulyla had not been expecting mages to interfere. Perhaps they would send some of their own next time, more powerful than whoever had set the 'inextinguishable' flames alight.

Link looked at the other three male Twili-one _hugely_ tall, taller than the others, one scraping ceilings at about six and a half feet tall, and the other the shortest of the bunch, still as tall as Link himself at about six feet-who seemed to have somehow contained the mythical blazes on the carts.

The fires were out. The Rosulyla were gone. All that was left was the burnt out carts and the pitter patter of rain, and a handful of _very_ confused guards on the other side of the Castle path.

Link slumped against a nearby stone pillar. Midna frowned at him.

"Hey, Advisor, don't die on me or pass out or anything. I need you to get us past that gate right there." She roughly yanked Link up off the ground by the bottom of his cloak's hood. "Good job, Ghirahim. Putting your shiny-diamond-stuff to great use."

The one who had been throwing magic gems, apparently Ghirahim, suddenly materialized in a flash of said diamonds next to Midna, leering in dramatically. "Thank you, my dearest Princess."

"You're such a creep," she sighed. "Ghirahim, this is Advisor Link. Advisor, this fantastically creepy man is Lord Ghirahim."

"Your husband?" Link asked, wondering why anyone would introduce their spouse as 'creepy'. Under her companion's cloak, he could see vivid white hair, cut over wide dark eyes.

"Goddesses, no." She hollered across the square, where the other two of her group had wandered off to. "Zant! Vaati! Get over here, we're leaving."

Vaati, the shortest one, apparently the wind mage, gusted over. The last one, assumedly Zant, was the tallest and seemed somewhat silent and skeletal. His eyes, peering out from under his cloak, were one eerie shade of yellow, with no pupils, elongated and...unsettling, with a hint of manic thrown in.

"Vaati, this is Advisor Link. He works with the Princess Zelda. Link, Vaati. Zant, Link, Link, Zant."

"Pleasure to meet all of you."

"It seems you are having riots," Zant said, somewhat robotically. He was easily the creepiest man that Link had ever seen, tall and lean and seemingly emotionless.

Link nodded. "The Princess and I are actually hoping to discuss that with you all. Let's go into the Castle and get out of this rain first." The group approached the castle gates. He looked up at the guards on the arch and yelled up to them. "I think we're clear. Can we come through? Princess Zelda is expecting this group."

They pulled the levers back, letting the group through, then slamming them shut once more.

The courtyard castle garden was fairly quiet, unsurprisingly, as the rain seemed to pound down harder than ever, tipping water over the side of the stone fountain in the center of the garden. The Castle loomed, stretching into the sky, grand and beautiful and imposing in its stature. Link led them up the small set of stone steps, under the covered outer area, and into the main parlor.

Scholars, guards, and politicians fluttered up and down the grand main stairwell, sparing the group a few odd looks, streaming through hallways, going about their business; to the library, to meeting rooms, to their individual offices or chambers. The room, though beautiful and magnificent, had a haunted feel to it when the sun was not shining through the stained glass windows. The brilliant scarlet rugs and mahogany seatings seemed dusty, older somehow. The walls, decorated with lavish blue and red and gold tapestries, stretched upwards until it met the ceiling, easily thirty five feet upwards. The stairs led halfway to the top of the room and led to exits and hallways around the castle.

It was dull to him, though certainly a stark contrast from the scene on the streets moments ago, but the Twili group was dumbfounded, staring in awe.

He led them to the left hallway on the ground floor and onto the spiral staircase, going up to the fourth floor, Zelda's hallway.

"You can take your cloaks off now, if you'd like," Link offered, ignoring the guards at the end of the hall. Clearly, they were sworn to secrecy.

The group had an odd manner of doing so. They removed the soaking overcoats and they all disappeared into nothingness-Midna's fading into dark black squares, Ghirahim's into red and gold diamonds, Zant's into strange cyan circles and Vaati's into swirls of purple and black, all before leaving the air full of nothing.

And Link got a good look at them, for the first time, and was amazed.

Zant was a little skeletal-oddly tall even in comparison with his group, at least a foot on Link, who hovered on six foot-and had odd, pale patches of blue ranging from navy to so brilliant it was white mingled on his darkened gray skin. He wore thick black pants and some kind of royal blue dress shirt. His face was a long oval, on an even longer neck, nondescript take aside his decidedly creepy eyes. He had hair, though it looked wispy and thin and a strange shade of purple.

Vaati's _color_ seemed to be purple, really. He had dusky gray skin, yet it seemed to glow slightly amethyst, luminous with it, with shoulder length lavender hair that seemed to be swept into his face. His eyes were slightly more normal than Zant's, with true whites, ringing bright scarlet irisies. Underneath his right eye, a black, talon shaped tattoo glared angrily, like some sort of battle scar. Link didn't dare to ask why he had it. Underneath his cloak, he was wearing a long, charcoal gray tunic with stretched sleeves, perhaps the most normal outfit of the group.

The man Midna had introduced as Lord Ghirahim was strangely flamboyant in appearance, like a rich noble's son in the Castle-perhaps even more so eccentric. He had dusky skin, not unlike Vaati's, and had bluntly cut, bleached white hair that went to his chin and slanted across his right eye, the other side slicked down and short. He, thankfully, also had whites in his eyes; yet they were almost completely dominated by deep, dark purple eyes, added onto by the dark purple circles that laced under his them. He had a long, thin face that vaguely made Link think of him as serpentine. His clothing was odd-a maroon cloak with his apparently signature red and gold diamond designs, one shoulder dipped off, revealing what looked like some sort of body suit or tunic beneath it. Easily the weirdest ensemble Link had ever seen on a man. He was shorter-though not as short as Vaati-and Link guessed he hovered around six and a half feet tall.

Finally, he looked at the Princess Midna, the second tallest and possibly the most imposing woman he had ever seen, tall and surprisingly voluptuous. Her skin was blue, not unlike Zant's in the darker areas, yet had no gray on it. She was wearing a tight black jumpsuit that dipped low on her chest, sharing a generous view of cleavage, that had cut-off sleeves. Cyan markings ridged her arms, almost looking like luminous, glowing scars in the hall light. She had short black riding gloves on and tight onyx boots. Her eyes, like he had noticed earlier, were slanted on her sharp, full face, with yellow rimming brilliant scarlet. It was her hair that drew his full attention, though. Long-billowing down her back, for certain-red orange locks that waved and glowed just as brightly as the cyan markings on her arms.

He looked away from the strange group, not wanting to be rude, but he could feel their eyes on him.

"Is the Princess at the end of this hall?" Zant asked, cocking his head and looking rather strange when he did so.

Link nodded and looked at the guards. "Is she in?"

"She's expecting all of you. Go on inside."


	10. Chapter 10

10

**Author Two A/N: A few things about this chapter: we've tried to keep the characters as canon as possible. Because this is an AU, there are some obvious differences, some of which will be explained later in the story. In addition, you _could_ say that this 'sort of' follows the official Timeline. . .though there are no promises as to where this may go. Last but not least, it starts being mentioned in this chapter that while this Hyrule is more politically evolved, it has medieval elements that will be built on, as well as some more advanced geography than what is portrayed in other games. Other than that, enjoy the read!**

Zelda was at a small side table in the corner of her room, pouring over books, with quills /and scrolls laid out around her like messy sheets. She was engrossed in some research regarding Hyrule's history, writing things in a large notebook beside her, when the entire group-Link and the Twili-entered her bedroom. They fanned out, Link walking forwards towards her and then gesturing for Midna to approach her. Zelda raised her eyes to meet the tall Princess of Twilight's ruby red irises.

Graceful as ever, she bowed her head slightly, standing and taking the few remaining steps towards the group. "Hello," Zelda ventured, lips turning up into a warm smile. She was only mildly surprised at their appearances; their long features and tall thin bodies were depicted frequently in her scrolls. Of course, they didn't look exactly like the exaggerated illustrations that meant to make them look like mere shadows in the Realm of Light. They were human, ancestors of the Ancient Hylians. Truth be told, Zelda hadn't expected them to look so similar to her.

"Hey. I'm Princess Midna of the Twilight Realm. I take it you're Princess Zelda?" Midna took another step forwards from the group, whose eyes followed every little movement and scanned over the room like hawks. Zelda got the impression that her group was much more nervous about her than Midna was; she wondered why. A small glimmer of wariness engulfed her for a moment before she regained her calm. Their Princess, at least, was pleasant, perhaps a little too informal for Zelda's liking, but definitely not hostile. And Link had been able to bring them along to her without injury, proving that they weren't necessarily out to kill Hylians.

Zelda looked at Midna, exotic, blue skinned, red and yellow eyed, and a full foot taller than herself, and laughed lightly. "A pleasure to meet you, Princess Midna. Yes, I'm Princess Zelda-but please, call me Zelda."

"Sure thing, Zelda. Your Advisor clued us in that you were...hey, green guy, what did you say, again? That she was expecting us?"

Link's eyebrows rose at her name for him and then nodded. "Yes. Princess Zelda was aware that you were in this Realm."

Midna was becoming mildly annoyed at Link's formal language in the presence of the Princess, but her gaze flickered back to Zelda. She found herself fumbling for words, wondering what it was that she even wanted to talk about-

Ghirahim sighed behind the Twilight Princess, stepping forward and bowing at the waist gracefully. "A marvelous pleasure to meet the Princess Zelda of Hyrule herself. My name is Lord Ghirahim."

"They're not spouses," Link quickly clarified. Ghirahim, for the _real_ first time, looked at him in the eye. Link felt as though the room dropped a few degrees, like the air had become sharper. His glance was absolutely...cold, dark, bemused, malevolent, and what Link could only describe as bloodthirsty. He dropped his gaze and became _very_ aware of the sword at his waist.

What if they weren't friendly, after all? He had seen just some of their tactics in the square moments ago, and Link knew that he was no match for them should they prove hostile.

Princess Midna, who was swiftly becoming the least-threatening of the group, rolled her eyes. "Thanks for clearing that up, Advisor. Anywho, purple, sulky guy is Vaati. A friend of Ghirahim's. Tall and creepy-you don't take offense to that, right?-is Zant. Also a friend of Ghirahim's."

Princess Zelda laughed in response, extending a hand in greeting to each of the odd group. "My Advisor, Link, is correct in saying that I have been expecting to meet you all, Princess Midna, Lord Ghirahim, Vaati, Zant. It is lovely to have you in my humble kingdom. I am curious, however, to why you have decided to come-and how you created a portal here."

The Princess Midna nudged Ghirahim, shooting him a look that told him to keep his mouth shut. "Ghirahim was on one of his freaky whims when he got together with Vaati and Zant. Vaati has been to the Light Realm previously and stayed with the Gerudo before getting booted back to my realm. Nobody likes him, apparently. But he was the one who performed the spell to get us here, so maybe he can elaborate. It was over my head. Overall, we...sort of came to say hi. Check out what's going on. Maybe establish some trade."

"But it would seem that this realm was more troubled than what we had imagined, and its denizens much more...powerful," Zant spoke, eyeing the books on Zelda's desk, open on their spines and spilling open their contents. Something about the oddities of his eyes made Zelda wonder if he could actually read the text from across the room. Just in case, she nonchalantly closed them.

"How would you know this?"

"Nabooru was right about her," Vaati muttered. Midna stepped on his foot before loudly clearing her throat. The remark was lost on Link, but Zelda cooly ignored the insult.

Link was the one to explain to Zelda what they meant. "The Rosulyla started a fight in the square. They had some kind of magical flame burning the carts. Princess Midna and her group showed up at the right moment and helped stave the Rosulyla off."

Princess Zelda nodded solemnly. "It is true that you find Hyrule in turmoil, though just how much is unknown. That is what Link's job is. I would be more than happy to establish trade with your realm, Princess Midna, but it is not solely my decision to make, and the others will not approve it. Not when you were seen fighting with the Rosulyla-even in cloaks, your group wouldn't be hard to identify."

Midna raised her eyebrows. "Wait just a minute here, Princess, because we were _seen_ fighting the Rosuwhatever to save your precious Advisor's ass. And what do you mean, not your decision? If you're not in charge of this realm, and that desert freak Nabooru isn't either, direct me to somebody who knows what they're doing."

Link coolly stepped in front of Midna and turned to face her, leaving Zelda behind him. His hands were raised in a gesture of peace, but his eyes were steel cut. "And while I'm grateful for you 'saving my ass', and with all due respect, Princess Midna, you have been here for all of a few hours. Before you blame Princess Zelda, maybe you should listen to what she has to say."

With a smooth flourish, Ghirahim pulled Midna back and gazed at Link passively, possibly attempting to prevent Midna from having an outburst. "Perhaps Princess Midna is simply more accustomed to absolute power held by rulers. It would be an anomaly in our Twilight Realm to have a ruler have to split power for a decision."

Midna rolled her eyes and yanked Ghirahim back., breaking the tenseness in the room. "Number one, Lord Dramatic, I can handle myself. Number two, green guy and Princess Zelda, care to enlighten us?"

With a knack of diplomacy and grace, Zelda smiled. "I have commissioned Link to conduct research on a few different subjects, including possible political corruption, extortion and terrorizing of citizens by the criminal Rosulyla...and to try to stop whoever wants to kill me and throw this realm into chaos. In the few days he has been doing his job, he has uncovered numerous leads and encountered the Rosulyla twice, now. There is a price on his head, and there will be one on yours, as well."

The Twilight Princess laughed. "No offense, but I'm pretty sure that my companions and I can handle a couple of thugs waving magic wands and setting carts on fire."

Zelda shook her head. "You have only met the lower level members. In charge is a man named Ganon, who, no matter how powerful your magic may be, will slaughter you. I have witnessed his atrocities on numerous occasions. He is no ordinary Hylian."

"It would be so very upsetting to hear that your other 'partners' in authority won't hear your case and help you capture this supposedly _evil_ man named Ganon," Ghirahim said, rocking back on his heels. Midna stomped on his foot, too. Link took a step backwards to stand behind Zelda and stare at the group, which had loosened slightly. Midna stood centered in front of Zelda with Ghirahim lurking at her shoulder, and Zant was a few steps away observing artful tapestries. Vaati had slouched down onto one of Zelda's fine chairs, looking bored.

"It is not that simple. Occasionally, I will get my Council members-headed by four people other than myself-to organize a raid on Ganon. Every time, he slips out of our grasp and innocent people die. He favors chaos. I have good reason to believe he is trying to have me killed, though there is a degree of political unrest that makes me question the Councilmen themselves."

Vaati chirped up. "Why don't you just step down? Release your authority? Let somebody else take the throne? Sounds like our fair Princess Zelda might just be hogg-"

Ghirahim turned and wagged a finger at Vaati, effectively silencing him.

Zelda leveled a hard look at the mage. "If this were just about my throne I would set the castle on fire myself. But as Link very well knows, the guards in the city have been given...orders, of a sort...not to defend the citizens against the Rosulyla. The politicians are laughably corrupt. I am the only sane one, and if I give up my authority, the people of Hyrule, both in Castletown and in the outlying areas, will be as good as dead. I am not positive in _where_ the true source of corruption comes from-the Rosulyla or the politicians. Link is working on finding the source. Until this is solved, I am very sorry, Princess Midna and companions, but I cannot offer any trade relations to you, and it would be best for you to leave immediately before the Rosulyla start to pursue you."

Vaati and Zant both turned to leave, apparently uninterested in helping the Light Realm any longer. Midna reached back and grabbed Vaati by the cloak, hauling him back towards her. "Listen up, you freaky little rat, as your Supreme Leader and ruler, I will _personally_ kill you and deliver your body in snack packages to Nabooru, and anybody else you might have pissed off, if you try to walk out that door without me again. Clear?" She looked up from his eyes to see that Zant had also paused. Ghirahim looked on with an amused expression, and the Advisor Link coolly watched. "Now, Princess Zelda, I don't agree with your bullshit diplomacy and I'd personally just eliminate the politicians, but we apparently lead very different nations. That being said, I have no desire to see the Light Realm fall, considering the likely outcome is the Sages sending your worst war criminals to _my_ doorstep. So we'll stick around here for a bit and maybe light some shit on fire. In a constructive way, of course. Now, Vaati, hand the Princess your letter from Nabooru."

Zelda paused for a moment, eying Midna with a certain kind of caution and suspicion. "I...appreciate your will to help us. Link, especially, will need your help. What is this about the outlaw leader Nabooru? I haven't heard from her in years..."

Vaati growled and manifested the letter, gusting it over to Zelda and dropping it to the floor. She picked up, frowned, and unrolled it, scanning its contents, before tossing it aside. "I forgot to add Nabooru to the list of people who may want to assassinate me." There was a smile on her lips, though, apparently not taking it too seriously.

Princess Midna laughed. "You're on your own with that one. She's psycho."

Ghirahim looked at Princess Zelda, still, with that strange smirk of amusement on his face. "I presume that we all have a deal, then. We shall stay and observe the...corruption, as you said."

Zant spoke up. "And if we don't desire to?"

Midna turned and glared. "Then leave, Tall & Creepy. Just remember that you have to get past Nabooru to get to our portal, and she'll want to know why Vaati isn't with you."

He tilted his head oddly once more. "It was a question."

She rolled her eyes. "So what, we just follow short stuff slash green guy Link around and he shows us the utter destruction of your kingdom? Or something like that? Do we ever get to do something about it?"

Princess Zelda smiled. "Yes. And once a plan is formed, yes, it will be dealt with. Link's quarters are on the floor above, and there are other rooms available there, as well. Please use them whenever you'd like. My servants are at your full disposal. If you happen to leave Castle Town in your investigation, as I told Link, I can't guarantee you will find room and board. Since you've already caused enough of a stir today, I would suggest you stay inside for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Link can explain some of his findings to you."

Princess Midna shrugged. "Fair enough. Well...I guess we'll go upstairs. Maybe order some wine from your servants. That'd be cool..." she shook her head, smiling and extending a hand to Princess Zelda. "Nice meeting you-we'll be, hopefully, seeing each other again soon. Don't die or anything."

With a laugh, Princess Zelda accepted her hand and shook it. "Likewise, Princess Midna, Lord Ghirahim, Vaati, and Zant. Be safe. Though, in Link's hands, I trust you'll be okay."

Midna eyed the Advisor Link and snorted. "Sure. He looks tough."

A few more short goodbyes were exchanged, and the group made their way into the hall, with Link leading the way through a small door and up the stairs to the Princess's Guest chambers. "My quarters are at the end of this hall. Any of the other rooms are yours to use. I don't think anybody will have to double up, luckily. Anyway, I have some of my more important findings written down-I'll go get them." He turned to Princess Midna and bowed his head. "Again, it's an honor, Princess."

A slightly wicked Midna caught Ghirahim's, again, amused eye and smiled. "Two favors, green guy. One, stop bowing at me. Two, don't call me Princess, and I won't call you Advisor."

Link, not wanting to somehow offend the Twilight Princess, nodded. "I'll be right back," he said, starting for his room at the end of the stone walled hallway and closing the door behind him.

Midna turned to the group, exasperated. "Seriously? I should throw you all in prison. Especially you, Vaati. Making a fool out of yourself and dragging me down with you. And Zant? Got an issue or something? I don't even _know_ what to say to _you, _Ghirahim."

"Have I left you speechless, my dearest Princess?" said Ghirahim, sickly sweet.

She glared at him and turned her icy eyes onto the whole group. "Pull that shit again, in front of _anyone_, and I'm not kidding, I will light you up."

Vaati raised his hand, as if to throw a gust of wind at her, but Ghirahim stopped him. "Vaati," he cautioned. "Let's not push our already depleted luck."

He lowered his hand and sulkily frowned at Midna, whose voice rang with authority as she spoke. "Listen up, twerps. From here on until we're basking in the light of the Sol in front of my palace, our goal here is to see if we can keep Hyrule's merry little ship from capsizing. Anybody who has a different goal needs to leave, and leave now. I can and will throw you overboard. Clear?"

"I want to impeach you," Vaati muttered as Link reentered the hallway. Midna laughed-the first time that Link had heard her do so-and the sound was far too bubbly for someone so imposing. She turned her smiling head and mouthed 'good luck' at the wind mage.

Instead of the list he had shown to the Princess, Link had grabbed his slightly messier 'to-do' list. On it were quite broad subjects; hunger, Councilmen and Guard corruption, the Rosulyla, and poverty, both in Castle Town and the country. He had quickly crossed out 'Twili' when he had first retrieved it. Underneath each subject were lines that led to other small topics-corruption to Rosulyla, Rosulyla to poverty to hunger, hunger to no business, no business to Rosulyla, corruption, and no customers, which led in turn to the Rosulyla. It was a jumbled mess, if he were being perfectly honest. "It's a little messy," Link offered, handing it to Midna, who was leaning against the wall, with the rest of her group scattered through the hallway.

She took it in between her slender fingers, examining it curiously, but without comprehension. Link went to stand next to her and point things out as he spoke, "These at the top are just broad problems that I've noticed. I tried to point them to other things, but the paper's pretty small-" he reached over to place his finger over where his words twisted at the corner, accidentally brushing the length of Midna's arm with his. She didn't do anything, but Ghirahim, in a flash and snap of red and gold diamonds, appeared just behind the Princess's other shoulder, a polite grin across his face. Link jumped a little at the display of Twilit magic and withdrew his hand, attempting to remember what he was saying. "and, I ran out of room."

"Hate to break it to you, short stuff, but none of us but Vaati can read Hylian," Midna stated, waving the list through the air. "I don't think we really need a list as much as we need a plan."

"A plan?" Link echoed. "I haven't gotten all-"

"See, this is why you Light Dwellers don't get anything done. You're too focused on the big stuff. Start small. What are we going to do about, say, that thing there?" She placed a finger on a tiny word near the bottom of the page. In Hylian, it read, "no customers." "Let's start small picture and work our way up."

"That would be great, if the big problems weren't so intertwined with the small," Link said. "That one says 'no customers' for businesses and farms and others. I haven't been out to the countryside to investigate matters there, but here, the guards won't protect the shops from the Rosulyla, so the customers are scared to even go near them."

"Alright, let's deal with some wimpling guards!" Midna announced, stretching her arms out behind her head. The motion revealed more prominent cyan markings that laced through her skin, like cyan licks of fire. Link _was_ curious, but he averted his eyes politely. He was beginning to realize Midna wasn't easily offended, but the one named Ghirahim seemed much more...aggressive. He certainly didn't want to give anybody the wrong impression.

Vaati, the man garbed in purple, gusted over to Midna. She frowned at him. "What?"

"I'm not in the mood to go chase down low ranking guards on the town streets," he said, with an exaggeration on the word _streets. _

"Really? Too bad. We're in it together, Gusty."

Ghirahim spoke up, voice sugary sweet. Judging from Midna's face, Link was starting to wonder if they were in some kind of constant love/hate relationship. "Come now, Midna, let him and Zant stay, perhaps wander this glorious Castle. It will draw us less attention, overall, and didn't you want to remain inconspicuous?"

She frowned at him, but jerked her head at Link. "His call. Guests don't make decisions."

"That would be terribly rude, now, wouldn't it, fairest?" Ghirahim smiled and looked at

Link, doing some flourish gesture that the fake Advisor assumed indicated that he was to speak.

Link snorted at the thought that they were having him make decisions under the assumption that he really was an Advisor. With no time to do anything else, he shrugged. "I can't see that it'd be an issue, as long as you both agree not to cause trouble, and...stay out of the public eye. I'll have the guards tell Princess Zelda that you're both staying while the three of us head out, though."

Ghirahim nodded and, in yet another weird display of what Link could only refer to as teleportation, disappeared in a haze of red and gold diamonds, reappearing seconds later in the same fashion towards the end of the hall, by the stairs. When nobody else moved, he sighed and reappeared again at Midna's side, leaning against her shoulder.

"See? The gracious Advisor Link has given us a generous permission. Let's depart."

She swatted him away and looked to Vaati and Zant. "Any trouble-any trouble _whatsoever_-and neither of you get a fair trial. You get a shallow grave in the Gerudo Desert." Then, she laughed again, the sound still far too bubbly for Link to accept.

Vaati ignored her and turned into one of the rooms, closing the door behind him. Zant, after a moment's delay, followed him.

"Bunch of freaks," Midna muttered. She looked to Link. "Alright, Link. Tell your guards that those two idiots are staying here, and then, let's go kick some ass."

**/**

Vaati blew his bangs out of his face, standing on the window sill in his self-appointed guest room, observing the town a couple of stories down. Rain splashed down at random intervals, never quite sure of when it wanted to be a downpour and when it wanted to clear up. It seemed to match his thought process, oddly enough.

He stole a glance at Zant, who was thumbing through a bookcase in the corner of the room, picking books and then levitating them in front of him. For nothing but kicks, Vaati gusted the pages wildly for a few seconds, earning him a stare from his silent companion.

"Lighten up," he muttered, suddenly regretting not having gone with Ghirahim and Midna; as much as he hated the damned Princess, at least she was _lively. _

Thinking of Ghirahim, well, got him thinking-what was he _doing_? Vaati liked to have a game plan. The Light Realm was in a state of disarray and the Princess was as fragile as china dolls. Taking it over sounded fun, but, as much as it pained him to admit it, he wasn't a leader type and had no desire to conquer the realm. Sending Hyrule into chaos would be entertaining to watch, that is... How hard could it be? The woman had told the entire group that killing her would do just that. It wasn't anything personal, just another game of cat and mouse and cause and effect for Vaati. He enjoyed it. Rarely was he ever set on fire with passion; mainly, he toyed with ideas and people and places. Toying with the Goddesses' blessed land sounded intriguing.

He vaguely wondered if letting that gang leader-who had Zelda called him, again? Ganon?-take over would prove amusing, perhaps even helpful to him. Vaati _did _have a vengence for the spiritual figures of the Light Realm, namely the Sages, and the gang leader didn't terribly fond of Zelda, who Vaati was sure _was_ fond of the Sages. Or maybe one of their corrupt politicians that the Advisor had mentioned...

Either way, he didn't like the Princess Zelda, and if he couldn't kill the Sages, killing one mortal Princess would have to do.

The problem with that, to him, though, was that he was _sure_ that he was not the only person who was plotting something. Ghirahim was _definitely_ scheming something-the bastard always was-it wouldn't have surprised Vaati at all if it included conquest of the Light Realm. Ghirahim, unlike the wind mage, _did_ had the material to be a dictator. People were entertainment to him. Having servants was a sadistic pleasure. Plus, if Vaati had to wager a guess, Ghirahim was desperately trying to get Midna's attention. If he were suddenly the supreme ruler of Light-a contradiction within itself-then that would, at least, buy him some bargaining ground.

Whatever Ghirahim was plotting, Vaati was sure it was a complex, clever, flamboyant, outrageous plan that involved rituals and, well, patience. That was one thing Vaati was _not. _

Taking out the Princess Zelda would, likely, screw up Ghirahim's plan, something that would _also_ amuse Vaati. Oh, sure, Midna would go after him, no doubt, and perhaps even that Advisor. But he could get away from them, as well as Ghirahim. Maybe even strike a deal with that Rosulyla group for protection in exchange for services.

But the real wild card was Zant, who had gone back to books.

Vaati snapped it shut from across the room, earning another empty-eyed glare from Zant. "What are you doing, Zant?"

"Looking for something old," he said in response, tilting his head. Vaati shuddered.

"What did you think of the Princess? Zelda? Blonde lady?"

Zant did not respond. Vaati sighed, taking it as a sign of at least some discontent, or at the very least, carelessness. "Fine, fine, go back to your useless reading-wait a moment, you can't even read. What are you doing?"

Gesturing to the book, Zant said, "It has drawings, sketches, and pictographs that depict its contents."

Vaati shrugged. "Whatever, Zant. One last thing. What's your goal here? Surely, you can't care that much about the denizens of Hyrule that you want to join in on our fair Princess' wild goose chase."

"I want to find something here," Zant muttered, opening the pages and levitating the book again.

Well, that answered that, for Vaati. Zant wouldn't be trouble. The only real people he would be on the run from would be Ghirahim-who he was slightly miffed at-and Midna, who he didn't care about.

Vaati sunk into the shadows, becoming nothing but particles of breeze, floating through the room like an invisible fog. "I'll be back later," he spoke, but Zant was silent in response.

**/**

**A/N: Originally, this chapter was going to be longer, but it got to the point that it "split" well enough for us to cap it here. For those of you who were more curious about Vaati and Zant, rejoice! Though they might have seemed like "background" characters up until now, our favorite wall flowers are very important to this story's advancement. **


	11. Chapter 11

Link was admittedly nervous to be back in the western side of town, with the fiasco of the previous day and the chaos of the Twili driving back the Rosulyla just hours ago still hanging fresh in the air. People in Castle Town seemed oddly unaffected by what had happened, though, and were still going about their daily afternoon business when Link, Ghirahim, and Midna walked down the street. The rain had turned to a light mist drizzling from the charcoal gray sky, not enough to soak the citizens, but enough to give the trio reasons to wear their cloaks.

"Let's go into this alley," Link suggested as he and the others broke away from the main crowd, stepping into the darkness of the narrow stone street. "This is an area I have already canvassed. The shopkeepers complained about limited business and having to shut down because of the Rosulyla, and the guards won't do anything-"

Midna cracked her knuckles, creating an audible sizzle and a visible spark of bright cyan flame that extinguished as soon as she straightened her fingers. Link winced, looking at how the markings on her arms glowed in the darkness of the alley. "Then point them out and let me do the talking. C'mon, seeing some big, scary Twilit chick has got to be intimidating to them."

He snorted. She had a point. Midna nudged Ghirahim with her shoulder and laughed heartily, earning a slight smile. "And Ghirahim can do his flashy diamond thingy."

Link shook his head doubtfully. "It'd be nice if we could avoid shocking the citizens, considering business is already bad in this side of town."

Ghirahim lazily glared at Link, and Midna yawned. "Fine, Advisor," the tall man muttered, seemingly disappointed. He draped an arm over Midna's shoulder as they walked; she didn't push him away, but she did roll her eyes. "However," he started, "one of these days, I'd like to put some magic to good use." He flicked a smaller ruby red diamond at the alley wall; it embedded itself a few inches deep inside of a thick stone wall. Link couldn't help but wonder what it would do to a living target.

The green clad man declined to respond to Ghirahim, instead forging ahead, stepping over puddles determinedly. As they approached the other mouth of the alleyway, he slowed down, looking both ways slowly, trying to figure out if there were any Rosulyla wandering about. People seemed to be sticking to their normal business, walking along slowly. This was the street with Telma's bar and the Goron's blacksmith shop.

A few guards, clad in their chrome armor, strolled along the street.

"Wait. Let's talk to them privately," Link suggested.

Midna grinned and held up a finger, skin darkening as she extended her fingers, the markings on her arms glowing brighter than Link had ever seen-almost _white_-and she curled her hand towards the street, as though she were beckoning something. Shadows drew up from around her, into tangible black particles fading into invisible matter that darted out onto the street, precise as a dart in finding their target. Suddenly, the guards were standing at the mouth of the alley, falling, losing their balance-

Midna clenched her fist and the particles turned into a shadowy hand, dragging them into the alley. She towered over them and smiled politely. "Hello, I'm new here and have a couple of questions."

The eyes of the two guards-probably in their twenties, one with a chubby gut-widened and their mouths hung open, trying to decipher the clearly foreign woman in front of them and the display of magic they had to just been witness to. They quickly stole a glance at Link, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm under orders from Princess Zelda to make sure our city guards are very accomodating to our foreign visitors, so I think you should answer her questions if you care to keep your positions." He drawled the words, leaning against the alley wall and crossing his arms over his chest. He had to admit that he was enjoying the guard's obvious fear and discomfort.

Ghirahim, in his usual flash of diamonds, appeared right behind the guards. "I do believe that the Advisor is correct, gentlemen. It would be...upsetting, so to speak, for Hyrule's fair guards to be unwelcoming to its guests."

They jumped, dropping their helmets with loud resounding clangs, eyes wide and almost awestruck. Midna rolled her eyes. "Okay, seriously, you're going to give them heart attacks. Boys, all I need to know is why the hell you're not protecting the shop owners from a bunch of thugs."

"The Rosulyla?" The chubby one asked. He scratched his face nervously, wiping off a small amount of sweat that had dewed on his forehead.

Midna nodded. "Yes, them. You know, the guys who like to set stuff on fire and terrorize people."

The thin guard shook his head. "Well, we are protecting the people who own shops, they just have to pay a small service fee for our-"

Link cut him off. "A thousand rupees isn't a small service fee. For some people, that's a month's salary. Isn't it the job of Guardsmen to protect the people on the streets?"

They both sighed, and the chubby one spoke again. "Look, if you're on Princess Zelda's payroll, you don't get it, Advisor. You're in the dark."

Midna glared, disappearing into black particles and reappearing in between Link and the guards. They jumped back into the wall, visibly frightened, and she laughed. "I don't know why you're all bitching about Princess Zelda. She seemed pretty mellow to me. Didn't she, Ghirahim?"

Ghirahim, with a lazy snap of fingers, materialized in his usual leering position on Midna's shoulder. "She seemed rather...demure, to me. Shame that her own guards don't think so, isn't it? Troubling, even."

Link nodded at the guards, smiling faintly. "See? Even foreigners don't see what your problem is with the Princess. Now, ignoring your assumption that I 'don't get it', let's talk about why you aren't doing your job."

"We're under orders." The thinner one said, rather curtly.

With raised eyebrows, Link fingered his sword absentmindedly. "You're under orders from...who, besides Princess Zelda? Maybe Chief Commander of the Hylian Guard-Ralis? Maybe a Councilman? Names would be helpful."

"Princess Zelda hardly runs this town, let alone this country, and Ralis doesn't do much as way of city guards. The Councilmen have advised us to use tactics that keep all citizens and guards safe and at least somewhat satisfied. The Rosulyla are citizens, as well," the snarkier, chubby guard said.

Midna laughed. "Criminals don't count, buddy. You just don't want to say it out loud how slimey you really are, because you're taking bribes, my friends. Hey, Link, what's the punishment for that here?"

"For a guard? Removal of duties and benefits pertaining, prison, maybe even a treason trial."

The Twilight Princess turned back to the guards and shrugged. "Sounds fun, doesn't it, chromies?"

They both glared, silent and seething. Link sighed. "I have a bargain for you to both consider. Why don't you just report the Rosulyla trying to bribe you? Saves me the trouble of having to go to your commanding officers, report the corruption, stand witness to your trials..."

"We have," the thin guard said. "To our supervising captain. He comes back with 'don't get in the Rosulyla's way.' We're all tip toeing around them."

"And who does he answer to?" asked Midna, idly lighting small fires on the tips of her fingers. It was apparent to Link that she was having a great deal of fun intimidating the guards.

"Well, miss, on a high level, Ralis. But locally? The Karkest Councilmen have outstanding authority over the Hylian Guards, at least here in town, especially Peter Zoten. Not sure about the country outreach officers, but there's talk that Samuel Mastes-the other councilman-used to be a shady country guard..." he trailed off, seeming unsure of himself. "I don't want to bad mouth my bosses. But, really, we're innocent bystanders here, we guards. We're not even authorized to carry weapons. You're an Advisor, mister, and you get to carry a sword."

Link wasn't sure if he would call the guards "innocent bystanders", but the entire situation did seem like a bigger problem. Throwing up his hands, he said, "Okay. I'm not pleased with this, but there isn't much you two can do. Now go before somebody wonders why you're off patrol." He looked up and gestured for Ghirahim to step aside. With a snap, he got out of the guard's way.

The chubby one immediately jogged out of the alley, but the thin one paused. "I'm really very sorry, Advisor. I don't like it too much. It feels wrong here." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at Midna sheepishly. "And I don't know where you two visitors are from, but I feel like I should warn you that the Rosulyla are good at finding people who use magic like you two do. Be careful."

Midna rolled her eyes. "Scram, kid. We can handle ourselves."

The guard nodded and briskly walked out into the crowd of the alley, just as rain started to drizzle down from the sky once again, darkening the already fading light.

"That was remarkably useless," Ghirahim drawled, materializing his cloak and shrugging it on. Link pulled his hood up.

"I'll say. Your country's a damn mess, Link. Just an endless run around of names and ass-kissing, authority, blah, blah, blah. Who are these Karkest guys? Where can we find them? And then what can you do about those weaklings?"

Link shook his head. "I can explain it..."

The sky shook with a violent boom of thunder and he continued on, "but maybe we should head inside, first. Come on, I know a place on this street."

/\\\\

Two beers were slammed down on the counter in front of the trio, with Link exhausted, Midna curious, and Ghirahim unwilling to indulge in alcohol. A few people were at Telma's in the early evening hour, mostly to get away from the rain, but it was its usual somewhat quiet sanctuary.

Link was beginning to like the bartender, Telma herself, even more than he originally had. She wasn't nosy about Midna or Ghirahim, and Link had introduced them as "foreign visitors." He left it at that and she didn't ask any more questions.

"Is there alcohol in the Twilight Realm?" Link asked, keeping his voice quiet, though they were at the end of the bar counter, far away from the few other patrons.

Midna smiled wickedly. "Of a sort. Not for drinking-for slamming. We're such savages." She took a sip of the dark brewed ale and made a contemplative face. "Well, damn! That's not half bad, green guy. Vaati ordered us some in Lake Hylia, but it wasn't nearly this good. Ghirahim, stop being such a voyeur and have some of this."

Ghirahim frowned, looking quite snobby. "I'm more than fine for now, dearest Midna."

She rolled her eyes and clinked her glass against Link's. "Cheers, Link." They both took drags of the drink. "Alright, now, tell me who these Karkustas that the guards were rambling about are."

"Karkests," he explained. "are two of the Councilmen that Zelda shares authority with. The other two are Bachests. The Bachests aren't exactly friendly, they're egotistical, hypocritical, and have their heads in the clouds about the underclass population. They think it's the shopkeeper's faults and don't believe in fair treatment. Karkests are always trying to appeal to the bottom feeders-by that I don't mean servants or farmers. They act like criminals are just doing it because they object to high food prices and other costs. They like to point fingers at business owners for their supposed 'wealth'. And they've got all sorts of power in the Guard. Peter Zoten was a 'peace officer' and Samuel Mastes used to be a Country Guard. Both of them still have friends in the chain of command...makes me wonder if they're pulling strings regarding the Rosulyla. They don't...what are you doing, Midna?" Link stopped mid explanation to stare at the Princess, who was happily lighting small blue flames along the top rim of her glass.

Staring transfixed, Link watched in wonder as she ran her finger over the fire, allowing it to transfer to her own fingertips before she blinked and it was gone. She smiled and laughed, creating another fire that burned on the surface of her palm. Link, curiously, reached his hand over to feel the apparently cold flame, but as his fingers neared it, the heat was so intense that her drew back immediately. Ghirahim, on Midna's other side, chuckled. "That doesn't...hurt?" Link allowed himself to ask.

Midna answered him and extinguished the fire. "The first time, it always does. Until you get the hang of it, it'll burn you. It's about mastering the magic."

Ghirahim added, "And the mind."

Link bit his lip, trying to decide whether or not to ask his next question. After a beat or two of silence, he started, "How old...I mean...how long does it take to master?"

"So I'm sensing two different questions there. Let me guess, let me guess... One: How old are we or how old do we live? Well, Link, that's not considered rude in the Twilight Realm. Asking a lady's age, I mean. So I'll tell you. I'm ninety and Ghirahim here is one hundred and four."

Link's mouth popped open for just a second before he remembered how to close it. "You mean...you're all...still _young_?"

"She's being facetious, of course," Ghirahim explained, leaning up closer against the bar. "How old do Hylians live?" His question didn't seem as innocent as Link's had. Link had always sensed a small sliver of sadistic pleasure about the state of Hyrule, the powerlessness of the citizens, from Ghirahim. He brushed his thoughts aside and answered the question, if only to get a truthful one about the mages themselves.

"Hylian's old age is considered ninety plus. By that time we're all crippled and such, though. I'm twenty. Zelda is nineteen," he answered. He included Zelda's age only to make it easier for Ghirahim to disclose Midna's. For some reason, he dearly hoped that their lifespan wasn't ridiculously long. He felt threatened by their magic already-what if they lived forever?

"Ah," Ghirahim acknowledged, nodding like he had already known that. "Twili live around the same, perhaps ten years more."

Midna answered the other part of his question. "I'm nineteen and Ghirahim is twenty one. I took the throne at fourteen and mastered most of my magic then, like my usual bad ass...hey, barkeep! Another?" She called over at Telma, who grabbed another drink and slid it down the counter towards her.

"Took?" Link questioned. He raised an eyebrow, thinking of the tales of the Gerudo rogues _taking _ their throne by killing the previous leader in a bloody death match. Midna didn't seem like a murderer, but who knew? He readied himself for the worst.

Midna, who was busy drinking, didn't reply. Ghirahim answered. "In the Twilight Realm, we have two royal families and a good selection of aspiring leaders. When the heir to the throne-child of a former leader-is of age, and the people have selected both candidates, there is a...duel, of sorts." He smiled before continuing. "Sometimes the former leader wasn't royalty and can't be selected unless voted for. Midna was the heir and turned fourteen. The opposite contestant was twenty five and extremely powerful, but she managed to overpower him in the duel. Quite interesting. It was a marvelous match."

"She didn't kill him, did she?" Link blurted. Midna snorted, laughing heartily, apparently back in the conversation. She held up a slender finger as she took another drink and then replied.

"Of course not," Midna laughed. "We're not _that_ savage! You don't really think that, Greeny..."

For good measure, Midna picked up her beer and then slammed it back down on the counter. The bar was beginning to fill up in the darkness, and slam was overtaken by the ambient noise of people laughing and talking. When the drink slopped over onto the wood, Midna burst into very loud laughter. Link was beginning to notice that she was quite drunk. While plenty tall, she was thin and he doubted that the Twilight Realm had alcohol that was as strong as Hylian's.

"Our Twilight Princess, apparently, isn't great at _handling_ her drinks," Ghirahim explained, a smirk upon his angular face. Seeing that the Princess was otherwise occupied, he added,"I was there when she dueled."

Seeing that Midna was beside herself with drunken amusement, Link continued to talk over her to Ghirahim. The Advisor didn't really know what to say about the entire situation, and Ghirahim seemed to know that, so he continued to share more information without prodding. "Our Twili duels have unusual rules, by the standards of your realm. No physical contact is allowed. The entire fight is contained in the Capitol City main square, and it draws quite a crowd. If one surrenders, or is knocked unconscious, the other wins. It is normally fairly civilized; knockback spells and the like. No swords, of course. Truly different from fighting here." He cleared his throat.

"You've seen that Midna enjoys her fire, which is unusual. People would have frowned upon it if she had simply burned her opponent until defeat-" Link began to be horrified, but Ghirahim explained, "with a spell that doesn't cause any physical damage besides pain." Link looked slightly appeased, so he continued, brushing his hair from his eyes. "The opponent was older, as I said, and very powerful. He used mainly lightning spells, another unusual talent. He wasn't above using some fairly barbaric and...shall we say, sadistic methods to win."

Ghirahim paused and smiled, remembering the beginning of the duel. He had been Midna's biggest supporter, sitting atop a nearby building above the rest, viewing the match with critical eyes. The crowd was aghast as the fight begun. Midna was barely dodging attacks and was trying to be noble by using only traditional spells. "Midna didn't want to stoop to her opponent's level-foolish, in my opinion."

Midna giggled. "He was a real asshole!" She announced, cheerier than ever.

Link nodded, interested to hear the rest of the tale. The Twilight Princess, while blunt and humorous, seemed to have an iron hard will and a definitely private mind. He had always been intrigued by her humor and wit, but also had the feeling that she was hiding something behind the loud jokes and sarcasm. He appreciated forthrightness, something that he tried to employ whenever possible, but it seemed that was foreign to the Twili visitors.

"But after getting struck by some magic lightning a few times, she began to reconsider. However, she tried one last way to remain noble. She used her fire to make a wall, trying to block his view so he could only strike randomly. He wasn't any good at short distance warping. She got on her knees-to the great displeasure of most of the crowd; they thought she was quitting. She drew up a huge amount of power from the Capitol City's Sol, which powers the whole city like a miniature version of your sun, and she threw him with it. Of course, not without any cost to her, but she did win."

Link raised his eyebrows. "What cost?"

Midna laughed loudly again. She stretched her arm out in front of Link, earning a puzzled look. "I gave myself some nasty little scars," she announced proudly.

Link didn't know exactly what he was looking at. The blue skin of her arm was unmarred by any regular looking scars, take aside the deep rivets that held cyan light... Were those her scars? "Is that...?" He asked, gingerly pointing at a swirly design that was engraved with the blue.

"Yes," Midna said. "My whole body. Besides my face. I'm so _lucky_," she drawled, resting her head on Ghirahim's shoulder to her right. "Aren't I positively fabulously lucky, dearest Lord Ghirahim?"

He rolled his eyes. She smiled and closed her eyes, looking tired. Ghirahim reached over to brush her hair out of her eyes, which elicited a mumble and a hand that swatted his away. "No, no, no. Hands to ourselves. I am _not_ that drunk." She drowsily put her hand down on the counter and blue flames flickered. Ghirahim hastily patted them out.

Link would have definitely disagreed with her supposed sobriety, but he didn't say anything.

Midna looked at him, face obscured in the dimness of the bar, eyes glowing dimly like bizarre red flames. "Look like somebody I know. Weirdo. . .I'd have offed myself if I really knew you." Her words quickly fell off into drunken mumbling. Link snorted as she lazily leaned onto the counter again with a content sigh.

"So," she slurred, glancing up at Link innocently. "Before we all got sidetracked by my amazingly alluring, shiny little battle scars, weren't we talkin about the...gridlock here? Corruptiaaa?"

Link made a face, trying to translate the mush that was coming out of her mouth. Ghirahim laughed. "The gracious little Advisor did, indeed, mention gridlock and corruption, Midna."

"I'm so smart," she smiled, eyes fluttering shut. Her third beer sat in front of her, halfway finished. It felt very strange to see the imposing Princess...sleeping. Like a cat. She put her head down on the wooden counter in front of her, hair splayed out in all different directions on the surface.

Ghirahim grinned at Link. "Enjoying the company?" His eyes were like black holes of what Link could only think of as a murderous, sadistic rampage waiting to happen. Link began to realize that he truly feared-was wary of-the man. He wished that the Princess had chosen another companion to bring along on her expedition.

"It's a pleasure," he lied, taking a long chug of his beer. His head swam, but he shook his head and steadied himself. He really didn't want to be drunk around strangers, especially when Zelda was relying on him. With a sigh, he pushed the rest of his drink forward to the other edge of the counter and leaned onto his elbow, running a hand through his hair once, then letting his arm rest on the counter. He drummed his fingers on the wood idly.

Unnerving to Link, the Demon Lord idly ran his fingers through Midna's fiery locks. To Link, the gesture felt...possessive, and somehow, he couldn't shake the feeling that Midna wouldn't have approved of it conscious or sober. "So, Advisor Link, you and the Princess Zelda seemed rather close-a Princess and her Knight. Classical of you."

"We're not. I work for her. Business relationship," Link answered, curtly. His eyes were fixed upon Ghirahim's long fingers that caressed the Princess's jawline and ran back down through her hair. "And I'm just doing my job. Not a hero."

"How delightfully...humble, of you to say that, Advisor. You seem plenty courageous to me. Virtuous." He raised an eyebrow, gesturing to Midna. "Don't play games, Link. You aren't even acquaintances with dearest Midna and yet your disgust for me being affectionate towards her shows right on your face."

Link frowned, disturbed and a little on the defense. "Virtuous? I don't think so. But I'm just wondering whether or not she'd appreciate you taking advantage of her. None of my business, though." He added the last part only to keep peace; it mattered to him.

"Exactly my thoughts, boy," Ghirahim smiled. "And do not forget that she is not a helpless victim. She is the most powerful mage that you will ever lay those humble eyes on."

An uncomfortable silence stretched until Midna's eyes snapped open. Immediately, Ghirahim was respectfully sitting, hands to himself. "Why am I drooling on a bar counter?" she asked, confused, pushing herself off of the barstool and stumbling right into Link, who caught her.

_Surprisingly light for a giant, _he thought. Ghirahim flash-appeared right behind Midna, looping his arm around her shoulder and out of Link's grasp. "You, dearest Midna, need some rest. Let's get you back to Princess Zelda's guest suites."

Link tossed three red rupees on the counter, waving to Telma, and followed the two Twili out of the bar, into the darkness of the night.

/\\\

Zelda sighed, tendrils of long ashen blonde hair strewn over a huge page of ancient Hylian text.

She didn't know why she tormented herself as she did. Every night, she wandered out of her chamber to the Castle's library, which was always deserted at the times she frequented it. All of the torches and candles had been put out; she was the only one around. She even sent her guards to sleep after a few hours of waiting in her bedroom. The Castle Town clock had already chimed one o'clock, and that was her usual cue for her research to begin once more.

The tall bookshelves loomed over her at the small wooden desk which she rested at. Her book of choice-of duty?-was a thick text about the history of Hyrule; specifically, a time when the Twilight Princess came back to Hyrule to seek the Blue Eyed Beast. Everything was vague. It was written in thick black ink that smudged over the page, making Zelda squint at the words that slanted across the paper. As with almost every old record, names were omitted for historic titles; Twilight Princess, Sage, Princess of Light, Blue Eyed Beast, Hero, Dark One. As her eyes scanned across the pages, a puzzle was unfolding within her mind.

Every single record of a war or deep time of trouble in Hyrule had almost identical...characters, she supposed. Situations changed. Hyrule hadn't always existed; once it was part of the Sacred Realm, once it was deep underwater, sometimes it was simply chaos. But every time...there was a Hero and a Princess and a Dark One or a Dark Lord. Why? Was it simply all fiction? Was it all truth? What was the "Goddesses' Given Power" that was almost exclusively given to the Three Chosen Ones? The ones that played an important part in-

Zelda's head snapped up. Her eyebrows furrowed as her weary eyes darted around the deserted library quickly, searching for the source of the shadow that was cast so momentarily over her book. Her candle flickered slightly next to her. She sighed, finding nothing, and snapped the heavy book shut. She realized that her nerves were almost entirely destroyed now, and her eyes were trying to shut on their own accord. She felt fragile and breakable.

She stood, gripping the handle of the light metal holder that her candle rested on. She left the book where it was-the servants frequently tidied up the library at five, before the main crowd-and started to walk back to her chamber. It was a long walk within the castle; all the way through the huge library, out into the main hall to the parlor, into the side hallway on the ground floor, and then up the secluded stairwell to her hallway. Zelda idly wondered if the Twili were all back in the castle; it had to be two, now, but she hadn't heard anyone come in. The two that had stayed were probably fast asleep now.

The Princess ghosted through the library and gently opened the large door to the great hall. Only a few dim candles burned out here; there were only a couple servants that tended to the candles this late. Her shadow was cast for what seemed like miles in front of her, slender and tall and long, distortedly so. She made her way through this hall and paused for a moment on the balcony that overlooked the main parlor. She could only faintly make out the stained glass tonight, and the large entry room was so dark and still that it felt abandoned. And then...it didn't. She wondered if a servant was cleaning up so late, or if they had become lost from their quarters looking for a late night snack. She heard no noise, but seemed to feel another presence.

Somehow, she didn't believe it was a servant.

Whatever the case, she started to quicken her pace down the stairs to the ground floor, making a sharp turn to her right towards her small hallway, almost tripping over an end table. She released a shaky laugh. She realized that she was simply exhausted. No one wandered these halls this late besides her.

Zelda continued walking and reached her staircase. With one hand gripping the rail and the other on her candle, she trudged upwards, fixing her eyes on the steps in front of her instead of on the bizarre shadows that were cast upon the stone walls. At times it seemed that her entire body would block the flame and cast the area into darkness, but she didn't pause. Her hallway was only a few steps away. And then, suddenly, her candle was extinguished, plunging the area into blackness. A mute tremor ran through her body and she yanked up the side of her skirt to unsheath her dagger.

A small breeze tickled her cheek, manifesting into something much more solid, and she whirled in a motion that was part grace and part lethality, gripping the dagger and swinging blindly.

"Show yourself," she called defiantly, holding the blade high and even. She didn't know if she had cut through anything, but the air had felt a little too thick. There was no response and she made the quick leap up into her hallway. One of the closed window curtains swayed, as if there were a breeze, but the air was stagnant and still.

There was only one person Zelda knew who could do this, and as soon as the name surfaced in her mind, she watched the shadows next to the swaying fabric and saw the dips of movement.

"Vaati of the Twilit group," she smiled, and the curtains gusted open, letting moonlight in. "Your manners did seem off to me earlier today. Are you going to kill me?" Her voice, though strong enough to sound confident, came out fast, almost winded. Her own courage surprised her.

A laugh materialized out of nowhere, as did the mage, who bowed in front of her. "That's for me to know, Princess Zelda, and for you to find out. But I do feel sorry for the poor fools who dream about assassinating you-do they know you arm yourself?" He rubbed his cheek, where a long cut bled dark black blood, presumably from Zelda's blade.

"I did think that I had gotten a cut in, but I wasn't too sure," she continued. She ran a white-gloved finger along the edge of the blade, staining the fine cloth with darkness. With a smirk, she ripped a shred of cloth from her white underskirt and tossed it to Vaati. He did look puzzled.

"Clean yourself up. I'm not convinced about the rest of your companions, but I don't believe that your Princess will be pleased that you're stalking me after dark," she said conversationally. Without a parting glance, she walked past him, down the hallway, opening her door and stepping in before calling back to him. "Oh, and Vaati, I'd suggest only coming after me again when you're serious about killing me. I don't give second chances to would be assassins."

And with that, the Princess Zelda shut and locked her door behind her, a thick barricade between her and the mage.

Vaati mopped up the blood from the cut on his cheek, staring at the door, somewhat confused and oddly impressed by the Light Realm's Princess. He hadn't figured her for a fighter, and certainly not for a mortal that carried a weapon around with her. He almost pitied the Hylians-so many of them weren't mages and had to rely on weapons of steel and wood. And for one who had to fight _off_ a mage just to grant him mercy, well, that was impressive.

_Certainly_ not something that Midna would have done.

With a sigh, Vaati couldn't help but conclude that, with the events of the previous moments, killing Princess Zelda would be useless and futile. Not sure whether she would hear or not, and not really caring, Vaati muttered, "Nabooru was wrong about you."

And he disappeared into the still air once more.

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. It's some fairly important groundwork for the future, so it needed good detail and the like. Anyway, thank you for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

Link had been planning on getting up early-before the group-and talking to Zelda privately, but by the the time he opened his eyes, he heard voices in the hall, loud and angry pulsations in his ears. He rolled out of his bed, head fuzzy, and dressed quickly, putting his sword in its waist sheath and slinging a bow and quiver over his shoulder before stepping out into the hall to see what the commotion was.

Midna, looking very worse-for-wear, was screaming profanities and throwing spurts of flames at Vaati, who blew them out before they had a chance to land. Link couldn't exactly tell whether or not they were mocking each other or really fighting. Still, not missing a beat, he snatched an arrow and strung it into the bow, firing it lightly into one of the hanging light fixtures in between the two fighting mages.

The shattering of glass gave birth to silence and raised eyebrows. Midna slowly turned on her heel and looked at Link suspiciously, the bow still poised in his hands. "Don't be such a smart ass," she grumbled, smoothing her hair down.

Vaati sent a gust at her, successfully frizzing it back up. She glared. "Scram. And go find Tall & Creepy. I'm calling conference."

"I want to go sight seeing, actually," Vaati quipped, a smirk resting on his face.

"Too bad. This ain't a scenic tour."

The wind mage frowned and gusted down the hallway. Midna looked at the pile of glass from the light fixture, intermingled with the wax of candles that at been resting upon the chandelier. She then looked at Link. "You'd better grab a servant or something, cause I'm not cleaning up your mess."

"You're in a good mood," he observed sarcastically.

"I have a headache," she informed him, rather curtly. Her eyes looked bloodshot-was that possible?-and had deep bags underneath them. Her hair, normally smoothed down into cascading waves, was frizzed into many different directions. Link smothered a chuckle.

"Are you entirely sure that the alcohol in the Twilight Realm is the same as the stuff here? You didn't handle it too well, Princess," Link teased, grinning at her. She grimaced and turned on her heel, just about stumbling into Ghirahim, who had manifested there in a sharp flash of diamonds.

"You've got to stop doing that," she muttered, taking a step backwards. "Why the hell did you let me drink that much?"

"You looked as though you were enjoying it," he stated simply, turning around to lace an arm around her waist and lead her down the hallway, leaving Link standing behind them. "I assume we'll be continuing our pointless journey around the town?"

Midna snorted. "Someone's grouchier than I am. I think he meant to ask what we're doing today, short stuff." The group stopped at the end of the hall and began to wait for Zant to emerge from his chamber.

"Well...I was going to ask the Princess. It seems like we're going to have to take down entire organizations, but that's not my job. I still need to assess some of the town and most of the country-news is slow nowadays, and I'm worried that the Rosulyla is spreading into the smaller towns. Ultimately, it's up to Zelda," Link explained. He started a little when Zant and Vaati emerged from a chamber, both dressed and ready to leave.

Ghirahim and Midna started down the stairs to Zelda's main hallway, with Link and finally Zant and Vaati following. The Advisor motioned for them to wait a few feet away as he knocked on the door, receiving a murmured "come in,".

The group entered, fanning out as they had the first time, with Zant and Vaati standing around in the back of the room, Link standing up front, and Midna and her companion behind him. Zelda stood by her wooden desk, a pen still in her hands. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, a few strands straying into her face. She looked incredibly tired. "Welcome," she said, mustering up a greeting smile. "Are your guest suites accommodating you well?"

"They're great," Midna said. "Short stuff just wants to know what we're doing today."

Link rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Zelda looked thoughtful for a moment. "I've just received a list from a servant, presumably coming from you, Link, regarding the higher-level changes that are required to solve many of Hyrule's problems. These issues will take time to deal with, at least here in Castle Town; however, in the country, we've had limited news and I am concerned that the Rosulyla or the Guard is abusing the small populace. Supposing that our visitors are willing, I would suggest going forth into the country, seeing what you find there, and then coming back to town if needed."

"Sounds fun," Midna said, raising an eyebrow. "Just how long will it take you to make those _higher-level_ changes? Obviously, it's in my best interest to help you with this mess, but I don't want to waste my oh-so important time."

Zelda bit her lip, trying to remain diplomatic and pleasant. Without flinching, she replied, "I don't know. There are many powerful people that I now need to remove from their positions. It certainly won't happen overnight, nor will it happen without serious backlash." She leaned backwards onto her desk in a rare display of semi-casual pose. "Everything has consequences, my friends."

Vaati, who had been trying to project the same casual attitude as before, almost cursed aloud. Was she really going to be dropping obscure threats in the same room as him? Midna and Ghirahim didn't pick up on anything-he sent up a thanks to whatever Hellish being he was supposed to pray to-but if they did, he would have zero reaction time. The Princess was looking straight at him. Did anyone else notice? Could he escape from Midna before she annihilated him? He began to wish that he had killed the frail woman.

"Just how vast is your kingdom, Princess?" Ghirahim inquired, making some elaborate hand gesture. Link almost snorted.

In a smooth movement, Zelda pointed over towards a hanging map on the wall. It was large enough on its own, containing hundreds-if not a thousand-of miles of land, but faded out on the edges as if unfinished. "In better, more prosperous times, I sent explorers out beyond the land we know. From where the edges are in fringes...none returned. Still, there are three main provinces: Eldin, Lanaryu, and Faron. In them, there are many towns and settlements, some of different races. In the very northern end of Lanaryu, the watery Zora Domain remains an independent property of Hyrule, as does Death Mountain, operated by the Goron race, to our east. Obviously, you had your own adventures in the Gerudo Desert. I must warn you that should you travel off of the 'main' roads-" she pointed at the roads inked in red in the map, "you may encounter other challenges. I do, however, suggest that you check out the smaller settlements first, to save the easier ones for last." She took another breath. "The main thoroughfares go to Lake Hylia, Death Mountain and subsequently Kakariko Village, Ordon, and the Zora Domain."

Midna nodded, seemingly impressed. "Cool. Well, I see no reason why not to head out of town, before we start causing some real shit to start. Short stuff, your choice on where to go."

Link looked at the map. He had been to two places on it-Ordon and Castle Town.

"Let's...try..." he pointed at a small scrawl of ink in the rural, western area of Faron, far off any main thoroughfares, reading _Farorica Settlement. _

Zelda nodded approvingly. "It's small and, to be quite honest, the last time we had solid contact with them was nearly a year ago. It's a supposedly hard path to get into their village."

Midna couldn't imagine being out of contact with an area of her kingdom for over a year. Even the hostile areas had somewhat regular, if stingy, communication. Nevertheless, she wasn't there to judge.

"I think we can handle going into a forest," Midna smiled.

Zelda smirked in return. "Very well. I suggest you leave as soon as possible. I have heard that the journey from here to the settlement takes about six hours on foot, perhaps a bit longer. Getting caught in that area of Faron, outside of town, in the dark would be a mess for you."

Midna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Ight, Princess Zelda. See you in a while, then. Okay, groupies, ten minutes to leave. Get any provisions you don't already have in your Shadow Storage, or suck it up."

Ghirahim and Midna immediately exited, with Zant and Vaati trailing. Link paused, looking at Zelda with a critical eye as the door to her chamber shut.

"What do you think?" Link asked.

Zelda shook her head. "I can't see that their Princess Midna is a danger. She seems reasonable to me, overall. Neither is Vaati, the wind mage."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Vaati seemed like a wild card to me."

"He's not. He might have toyed with a few ideas, but I think I swayed his opinion."

Link made a face and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even want to know. Okay, then. What about the rest of them? Ghirahim? Zant?"

The Princess pursed her lips. "The Lord Ghirahim seems...like an opportunist, to me, as well as a narcissist. If an opportunity for glory arises, I think he's one to take it and run with it. I wouldn't trust him, if that's what you're wondering."

Link nodded. "Same. But Zant..."

"He's mysterious," Zelda allowed. "And probably the smartest of the group. I haven't an idea what his intentions are, but he seems nearly as sinister as Ghirahim, but more calculating."

The man in green shrugged, a little put off by the character analysis. "Yeah. I'll see what I can figure out with him. If you think Vaati can be trusted, maybe I can find something out from him. He's really the only one I've seen with Zant. Midna and Ghirahim avoid him."

Zelda smiled. "Do so. And, Link, be careful. . .I overheard some talk about you."

"Who was talking?" he asked.

"I was in the library yesterday, after you went with Ghirahim and Midna. I heard someone discussing a man that's running around town, appearing at the most dire moments...he matched your description." Zelda pulled a scroll from her desk. Link recognized it as a popular paper tabloid. On the front was a very dim sketch of Link squaring off with one of the Rosulyla in the square. "And I'm sure I'll hear even more. Tomorrow is a Council Meeting, of which I have to attend with our fair Councilmen."

Link was immediately unnerved. "Are you going to be okay?"

"You needn't worry. I don't believe that anybody is going to try anything just yet. But, in the future...well. Let's hurry and figure out what it is that's going on. But be aware that people are watching. You're catching the attention of some very powerful people."

"You know me...fortune and fame," he grumbled, giving her a two-finger salute. "Stay safe, Princess Zelda." He turned and exited the room.

"You might need it more," she whispered to the silence left behind.

/

Vaati gusted into Zant's chambers with the group waiting outside in the hallway, almost ready to leave. The door blew shut behind him, a sound barrier between him and their commanders, and Vaati zipped to the tall mage's side.

Zant was tossing books over his shoulder, where they disappeared into a flash of nothingness, presumably going to his Shadow Storage. "Well, well, well. Still...looking at pictures?" Vaati leaned against the dusk and gusted his bangs out of his violet eyes.

He didn't respond and the wind mage rolled his eyes, hating that it was a habit he was starting to pick up from Midna. "Please tell me you aren't actually carrying them with you. What are you even looking for?"

Zant looked down at Vaati and frowned sternly. "I am carrying them with me and I have not found what I am looking for...yet." His eyes seemed to glaze over on the final word, as if a promise of hope and riches were on the horizon, and his lips turned up into a smile.

Vaati was just beginning to question the man's sanity. He laughed and said, "That's a little off-the-wall, my friend. Come on. Let's enjoy Midna's bizarre quest while we're here. We can read once we get back to the Twilight Realm."

Zant looked at him as though he had just greatly insulted. "I will not rest until I find what I am looking for. It haunts me. It is great."

He made a face. "You must be feverish. I'll get Ghirahim."

Zant flashed in front of him, startling the mage, who threw up his hands. "Do you have a problem?" Vaati demanded, incredulous. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"I am not feverish," Zant asserted.

"You're acting the part," Vaati responded snarkily. "Now get out of my way."

"Do our companions know you attempted to kill the Princess of the Light Realm last night?" Zant asked, eyes wide as disks and just as curious looking. He outstretched his hands, in a gesture that a Light dweller would have taken as a nonchalant shrug. Vaati didn't know how to interpret it.

Vaati sheepishly looked at the floor. He should have known better than to take Zant as a fool, though he was slightly unnerved that Zant knew of his assassination attempt. He should have waited longer, or not tried it at all. "No. They're not aware. But we came to an...understanding, the Princess and I."

The taller mage smiled widely again. "I am not feverish," he asserted yet again.

_No, _Vaati thought, _you're worse. _"I can see that," he said curtly. "Listen to me. I don't care to hear about whatever it is that you're searching for. But stay out of the way. Keep the Princess Zelda _out_ of it. I don't care about the rest of the group's involvement."

Zant nodded. "Soft," he muttered, perhaps referring to Vaati's request. The wind mage didn't dare respond as Midna rapped on the door, annoyed.

"Come _on,_ you freakshows," she yelled, voice muffled.

Zant looked down at Vaati. "Inform me of Hyrule's history on our journey." It was more like a command than a request, but Vaati rolled his eyes-again miffed at the habit-and nodded.

"Sure. Let's get going."


	13. Chapter 13

He had missed the countryside.

Midna didn't know that much about Link, not enough to really give her a good opinion of him besides what she had witnessed firsthand, but as soon as they had travelled outside of Castle Town, his demeanor lightened considerably, eyes alive with curiosity and adventurous spirit. It was endearing to her and she kept an eye on him in the corner of her eye as they walked. For some reason, his lightheartedness reminded her of a less-bitter version of herself.

Ghirahim was silent, walking in step next to Midna, while Vaati and Zant appeared to be talking about un-important affairs in the back of the group. The wide plain that surrounded the Castle to the south gave way into a dark forest as they walked, scattered with oaks and willows and a canopy so thick that sun only streamed down in faint patches. Midna had made an earlier comment about the beauty of it; it was rare for trees to become so full and luxuriously green in the Twilight Realm.

"Do you really know where we're going?" Vaati asked Link, breaking the hours-long silence. Midna blinked, as though she had been staring. She felt a mild prick of annoyance at the interruption.

"Of course he does," Midna snapped.

Link laughed, taking the map Zelda had given him out of his pocket and unfolding it. "Not really. I'm from Ordon. It's a small farming village on the very southernmost side of Faron. We're heading southwest, and I've only been to two places in Hyrule myself: Ordon and Castle Town. Good thing we have this map."

"What-" Zant materialized in a flash of nothingness, besides a faint aura of turquoise dust, in front of Link. "-are we hoping to find in this wilderness?"

He towered over Link, who, much to Midna's surprise, shrugged nonchalantly. "Seeing how far the corruption goes, I suppose. Seeing if there are any issues out here connected to the ones in the capitol."

Zant nodded and flashed back to Vaati's side.

Ghirahim smiled, extending in arms as if to bask in the darkness. "Can you feel it, Midna?"

Midna looked at him curiously, cocking her head. "What?"

With a grin, he eyed Link and asked, "What is the wildlife like out in this wild?"

The green-clad man chose his words carefully. "I've heard some stories about beasts other than tree-panthers that used to roam the wilderness, but I don't have an exact idea of what."

Vaati laughed and Zant looked contemplative. "Now that you mention it, Ghirahim," the wind mage said, "I feel it, too. Out here."

Midna made a face at them. "Care to clue us in?"

"I'm rather shocked that you can't feel it, dearest," Ghirahim said. He sent a field of red and gold diamonds out and, as they disappeared through the trees, grazing the grass and slicing clean rows, a growl sounded.

Link drew his sword and the group knitted together, shoulder to shoulder.

"That didn't sound like a panther," Midna remarked. "You really think there's a dark beast out there, Ghirahim?"

Wild cries sounded from out of the forest, so scratchy and discordant that they sent shivers up Link's spine. He furrowed his brows, squinting deeply into the dim forest, trying to find the source of the commotion.

"No. I believe that there's a _gathering_ of dark beasts."

As Ghirahim finished speaking, three hideous beasts came charging forward, on two legs but with features that were not at all human. They shrieked in deranged war-cries, the monsters with pig-like features, green skin, and clad with crude armor and jagged weapons, thrown out knives or machetes from the trash. One of them took a horn from its belt and blew it, the sound dark and foreboding.

Link braced his sword in front of him, wishing dearly that he had grabbed a shield from the Castle. He tested out the strength of his leather gauntlet on the other hand, satisfied that it was not cut by his thin blade's edge. Then, he started to repeat his training. One foot forward, weight on the back leg. They came closer and closer and finally he took action, turning on his front heel to dodge a strong blow from a long knife. His shoulder collided with the beast's as he spun and then slid the sword through the cloth clad back of the monster. It cut through without any resistance whatsoever, surprising him, and the beast seemed to fall apart, disintegrating into purple smoke, blood, and bones. Its clothes sat empty on the ground.

He was still wheeling from the force he exerted and saw a club coming down towards him from the corner of his eye before a crackling wave of cyan and orange energy rocked the ground, electrifying the monster that had been about the kill Link. The wave entrapped the other one, reducing them to nothing besides decayed bones and blood and smoke. Link stumbled and fell backwards to the dusty ground.

There was silence, take aside Link's heavy breathing.

Cyan and burnt orange sparks danced on Midna's fingertips and she waved her hand to extinguish them. "Short stuff, watch yourself next time. You'd think that you've never seen a monster before."

Link looked at her, chest heaving. His eyes were wide and he was still clutching his sword. Midna chuckled, seeing his surprise at the Twili's nonchalance. "I haven't."

Vaati gusted over and extended his hand to Link-the gesture felt odd as he helped Link gather his footing. Link hesitantly took the help and dusted himself off. "You haven't seen creatures like that before? That's a little sheltered."

Ghirahim nodded in agreement. "In the Twilight Realm, we learn that the areas of wilderness have an abundance of untamed monsters, usually created by some nefarious spell or another. Zant knows more about those such spells. I am not a fan of necromancy and don't care to educate myself on its practices, but something about these creatures suggests it."

With a huff, Zant pointed a skeletal finger at the thick, gooey blood of the monsters. "The purple miasma," he explained. "It means they were summoned, but via observation of how quickly their bodies were to fall...it wasn't by a powerful sorcerer."

Midna walked forward and slapped Link on his back. "Well, taking all that shit into consideration, you did pretty well, short stuff."

He smiled faintly. "Thanks for saving me."

"No prob. I'll try not to emasculate you next time, but no promises if you don't get your ass in gear. You're not half bad with a sword, either, so just keep your guard up."

Ghirahim flashed to Midna's side with a grin. She swatted him away.

Vaati laughed. "Well, I'm not in the mood to fight off inferior monsters. Let's find the Settlement. Surely, we're close."

The man in green shrugged and looked at Ghirahim. "You felt the...presence of the creatures first, right? Is there anything ahead?"

"All around," the Demon Lord confirmed. "But straight ahead? I'm not terribly sure."

Link took an arrow out of his quiver and blindly fired through the darkness of the trees. Far away, he heard a thunk and a curse. Seconds later, an arrow flew at them, better aimed than his had been, almost striking Ghirahim before he reached out and plucked it out of the air. Link restrung his bow and fired in the general area that the returning attack had come from, this time earning a loud cry.

He and the group armed themselves once more, lowering into a crouch. "Wait," Midna said.

An arrow came whizzing back through the trees and, just as she had done in the square, she caught it in between her fingers and it disintegrated. "Ghirahim. Not a monster." Her voice was low-a whisper.

"But a hostile," he smiled. "I can trace its path and teleport us to it."

"I'll follow your current, showy," she muttered, grabbing Link's hand. "Vaati and Creepy, follow our path."

They nodded, and Link wasn't exactly sure what was going on as Midna squeezed his fingers. Ghirahim glared at him, but snapped his fingers and in a light clinking noise, disappeared.

Midna, with no such warning gesture, turned into a shower of invisible matter-unseen, but still so seen-and black shards. Link was breathless as he, too, was overcome in the silent whirlwind of what was called a warp spell.

The matter stopped and he re-materialized with the group behind a tree on the fringe of a small clearing, where two Hylian women were. One was on the ground, a long gash on her thigh and a bloody arrow-Link recognized it as his-next to her. The other was reloading her bow, firing an arrow in the direction that he assumed they had just been in.

Ghirahim snapped his fingers and appeared right behind the archer, much as he did with Midna, and she shrieked, dropping her bow and reaching for a knife sheathed at her waist. Ghirahim caught her by the wrists, twisting them behind her back in a smooth movement. She screamed.

Zant silently appeared in front of the wounded girl, who cried out and frantically backed up to meet the trunk of a large tree. "Oh, brother," Midna moaned, stepping out from the trees, Vaati following suit.

"Run!" The archer yelled to her wounded companion.

With a quick leap, Link jumped into the clearing. "Everybody calm down," he commanded. They all froze.

"I'm an Advisor for the Princess Zelda. These are just my travelling companions. You fired at us. We came to say hello." He looked at Ghirahim, who had the unharmed woman's arms pinned behind her back. "Ghirahim, let her go."

He quirked his head at Link, but released the girl, who stumbled to her friend. Zant flashed to the back of the group, delved in the shadows of the trees. "Let's help her with her leg," Link said, fishing into his small framepack for medical supplies.

"Please," Ghirahim said. "Surely, she can walk."

The unharmed Hylian girl shot a glare at the Demon Lord. "No, she can't."

"We're not asking her to, that's for damn well sure," Midna said, shoving Ghirahim back. "Lay off the creepy," she muttered to him before turning back to the two Hylian women. "Why did you shoot at us?"

The injured girl, who was working hard at remaining calm, exhaled sharply. "We thought you were enemy archers," she explained. "Recently there's been a lot of monsters, some with bows."

"No harm, no foul. Do you have any gauze or cloth?" Link asked. "We thought the same. I think I was the one who got your leg-I'm sorry."

"No, Advisor, don't feel sorry. And no, I left it all back at the Farorica Settlement, which is nearby, but she can't walk that far," answered her companion.

Midna bent down next to Link. "Here," she said. She was wearing a long black kimono-jumpsuit, with short ripped sleeves that showcased the cyan markings on her arms, and she tore a length of fabric from one of the legs, which only reached halfway to her knees, and burned the other part of the fabric to even it out. "Do whatever you need to do."

Link looked at the injured girl, whose mousy brown eyes were wider than the sun in the sky, and showed her the cloth. "I'm going to tie this around your wound, and it's probably going to hurt."

"It's okay," she said.

He wrapped it around the gash, weaving it tightly, and then cinched it. She winced. "Sorry, sorry," he said, turning to Midna, who looked impressed. "Can you get me a...tree branch? A thin one?"

"Ghirahim. Tree branch." She held out her hand behind her, without even sparing Ghirahim a glance. Link was re-inspecting the bandage and heard a shuffle of noise before hearing the whistle of a branch flying through the air. Midna caught it without missing a beat and handed it to Link.

He looked down at the girl, whose friend watched with weary eyes. "The bandage will stop the bleeding until we can get you to some sort of infirmary, but it won't help you walk. This, on the other hand, will." Link offered her a hand and she pulled herself up, gasping when she straightened her leg. He handed her the branch. "Just use it like a cane."

The uninjured girl stepped in front of her companion. "Thank you, Advisor. We definitely haven't seen any officials out in these parts in...years. And certainly not any foreigners. Tell me, where are you all from?" she looked at the group, raking angry eyes over Ghirahim.

"We can explain once we get out of the woods," Link allowed. "We ran into some...wildlife."

The girl smiled. "I see. We can explain that, too. Settlement isn't far from here, though we'll be walking slowly because of Alia's leg."

The injured woman, apparently named Alia, frowned sheepishly. "Sorry, Charlise," she said, looking at her companions and then looking at the rest of the group nervously. "Follow us."

Link looked at the two of them as they started to walk through the woods again. At first, he wondered if they were sisters, but at second glance, they weren't-just sharing incredibly similar features. Not exceptionally tall or athletic, but with long chestnut locks pulled back into pony tails, creamy skin, soft features and brown eyes, wearing the same kind of shabby leather armor, both with weapons sheathed at their waists and bows slung over their shoulders.

He was beginning to wonder about them more when Midna, who he hadn't noticed had stayed at his side-instead of assuming her usual position by Ghirahim-nudged him. "That was resourceful," she murmured.

"What?" He whispered back.

She smiled and nodded at Alia walking with the cane in front of them. "What do you did with Brunette Number Two's leg. Though you do owe me another kimono, short stuff."

Link shook his head modestly. "Just basic battle medicine."

"But you held it together. Nice."

Ghirahim, in his usual cloud of diamonds, appeared at Midna's side. She glared at him and shooed him off. "You. Me. We talk later."

"Sounds intriguing, dearest." Ghirahim smirked.

She frowned. "My name is Midna. Which you damn well know."

He flashed back to his spot behind Link and Midna. Link could almost _feel_ a dagger being twisted into his back. Link bit his lip and hoped dearly that the Lord was above attacking him.

Vaati darkly chuckled. "Dog house."

They walked in utter silence through the meadow-like clearing, nearing the end of the golden grasses and entering back into the deep forest with the dusty ground. They were twisting into a darker grove by the second, with branches hanging low and plentiful, so dark that Link wouldn't have ever thought a sun existed above them. It was at least an hour later when the group reached a dead end.

"Did you get us lost or something?" Midna asked.

The uninjured girl, Charlise, shook her head and nodded at the wall of trees in front of them. "A gate," she said. "Just look closer."

And once Link knew what he was looking for, it was easy to see it. The trees were cut as logs, with foliage from others just hanging over them, cleverly disguising the structure they stood in front of as just a dead-end thick wall of forest, when it was, in fact, an entrance to the Settlement.

Charlise pounded on one of the trees, iron plated gloves creating a resounding thud throughout the forest. "Open up! We have injured and...visitors."

One of the tree logs seemed to be pushed aside and Charlise pulled her companion inside, motioning for Link and his group to follow them in.

As soon as they went through the gap, Charlise pushed a log door back in place behind them, sealing the structure once again.

Link looked at the place in wonder. It was shabby and modest at best, with barely standing skin huts and lean-to buildings inside, but the way it was constructed as a fortress within the trees-with, in some parts, foliage of the outside forest blocking the sun-was brilliant. No wonder there wasn't a lot of communication-it was impossible to find.

A few people mulled around, all dressed in leather armor or fur-pelt clothing, and small children ran into their raggedy homes as the strange crowd moved into their fortress.

Alia dropped the makeshift cane and Charlise caught her before she could hit the ground. "I'm going to take her to Valici, our shawoman and doctor. You'll have to find somebody else to give you a tour, Advisor," she said.

Link nodded and waved her on. "No, that's fine! Get her healed up."

The two hobbled off, disappearing into a half-tent-half-log-cabin in the corner of the sanctuary, leaving Link and the group alone as one lone old woman walked towards them, the rest of the citizens haven taken cover inside their homes in fear of the strange group of travellers. A few small children hovered on the fringes of a patched animal skin tent, pulling the makeshift door aside to stare. Their mother ushered them inside and ducked inside herself.

The woman had waist-length gray hair, relaxed into loose waves with bits of foliage weaved into its texture, wearing what Link could only describe as a long, bulky potato sack and no shoes. Despite her gray hair, her face was surprisingly youthful, porcelain, free of wrinkles. Her features were just as soft as Alia and Charlises' were, yet her eyes were a piercing blue that made Link wonder if they were somehow artificial.

"Greetings," she smiled, showing no fear as she observed the anomaly of travellers. "My name is Chlaudian. I suppose you could call me the...leader...here at our humble settlement."

Link stepped forward and extended a hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Chlaudian. My name is Link-I'm an Advisor for the Princess Zelda."

She shook his hand and smiled. "Well, well, we certainly don't see many of your kind out here. Your friends look like foreigners."

He smiled. "From left to right, Princess Midna, Vaati, Zant, and Lord Ghirahim-"

"Who is _not_ my husband," Midna clarified with a smirk.

"-who is _not_ her husband," Link finished. "They're from a. . .neighboring kingdom. You have to go through the Gerudo Desert to get to it. They're helping me with a project assigned by our Princess."

"I see," Chlaudian smiled, eyebrows raised. It made Link think that she "saw" quite a bit, including his barely-concealed fib about the origin of Midna, Ghirahim, Vaati, and Zant. "Regardless, if you came from Castle Town, you must all be exhausted. Come, follow me. I can offer you food and perhaps a little shelter."

Midna eyed the old woman wearily as she led the group to one of the bigger structures in the Settlement, a weathered, rickety log cabin dead-set in the center of the place. She pulled the makeshift door-just a leather tarp-aside and gestured the group to come inside.

It was a large room, perhaps one of meeting, with shelves of dishes, books, and trinkets and a wood stove in the corner and two doors leading down a hallway, maybe guest suites. Chlaudian sat on one of the wooden arm chairs and most of the group sat on a loveseat, Midna choosing to stand rather than deal with sitting next to Ghirahim.

"Can I get you anything? Tea, perhaps?" She stood and grabbed a kettle that was resting over the stove's fire, snatching a little mug off of one of the shelves and pouring the water in it. She walked to a cabinet at the end of the room and pulled out a little bag of mysterious looking herbs, dunking it into the hot water and offering it to Link.

He accepted it gratefully. "Thank you."

She smiled in return. "Did you all travel from Castle Town?"

Midna nodded and spoke, as Link was enjoying his tea, Ghirahim was sulking, Vaati was looking uncomfortable and Zant was looking utterly bored. "Yup. Ran into some...interesting little creatures."

Chlaudian sighed and sank back into her chair. "I am sorry for that. We are having a bit of an...infestation, you see. Months ago, two men in dark garb came to our Settlement and waged a fight with some of our humble warriors. We barely managed to ward them off, though it seemed that they weren't too interested in _us..._more so our rogue area of Faron Woods. They've been cultivating beasts from scratch, through ancient, evil magic."

"Necromancy," Zant chimed in.

She nodded solemnly. "We are afraid that they are preparing to storm our Settlement, therefore gaining control of a whole area of Faron Woods. We have requested help from our political representatives in Castle Town, asking for a small military deployment, but to no avail. Either they don't respond or our letters never reach them. We haven't seen a country guardsmen in months, and when they do come, they just sit around inside our walls. We sent out a group of adventurers and warriors to track down the source of this malevolence, but to no avail, as they never returned."

"That means that there is a sorcerer practicing necromancy who uses his resources wisely enough to have eyes, watching over the forest," Zant said, snapping out of his daze momentarily. "Sending out mortals is sending them to their deaths. Flesh and bones."

Midna narrowed her eyes at Zant's lack of clarity, but looked at Chlaudian with weariness. "Tall and Creepy sort of has a point, but-"

"Surely helping these humble settlers cannot be the mission of our Advisor Link, can it?" Ghirahim icily inquired, examining his nails as though they were the very epitome of _fascinating._ He tossed his hair back unsmilingly.

Link, coolly, looked at him and smiled. "The lack of country guards is disturbing, and something I'll certainly have to report on, but we do know that the Rosulyla have mages that could be behind this. I see no reason _not_ to investigate further, especially if it helps the villagers. If we could even cripple the Rosulyla..."

Chlaudian beamed at him. "An Advisor whose heart is made of gold instead of greed, and helpful foreigners. A blessing from our Farore."

Farore, the Goddess, Midna recalled in her thoughts, patron of what...courage and nature? She found it odd that Chlaudian did not mention the other two Goddesses-wasn't it blasphemy to only talk about one of them? She also vaguely noted that it was the first time she had heard any mention of religion since arriving in Hyrule...

Link smiled. "I'm only doing my job."

Chlaudian winked. "But of course. Now, let me show you all to our guest quarters."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I (co-author number two, aka fishylishy) have to admit that I'm drawing some heavy landscaping inspiration from Diablo Two-not three, I'm too broke to spring for Three. If you've played...excellent. If not, you can still get it for pretty cheap, since it's about a decade old. Try it out!**

In addition, as the story progresses, we'll be seeing some interesting issues and conflicts between certain characters come to light-any guesses as to what they might be, readers?


	14. Chapter 14

The quarters that Chlaudian showed the group to turned out to be dingy, dank, and quite small. It was a little lean-to that had been constructed as an addition to the main cabin in the settlement. It had two cots haphazardly thrown on each side of the room, with a wilting screen separating the room in half.

"They are certainly humble," Chlaudian smiled. "But I am afraid that it is all we have to offer you."

"It's no problem," Link assured her. He heard Ghirahim hiss behind him.

_Still sulking, _Midna thought, walking to a torch stand on one of the walls and, with a snap of her fingers, lighting a dim blue flame. She turned to Chlaudian, as if suddenly remembering her presence, and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, uh, right. It's a...magic trick. So the fire doesn't catch these rotting walls..."

Chlaudian waved a hand. "I care not." She looked to address Link. "I must tend to my nightly rounds, as well as checking on Alia and Charlise. Please, travellers, make yourselves at home. There is stew on the boiling pot in the first room of the cabin. Conservatively help yourselves."

"That's fine," Link smiled. "Thank you very much, Chlaudian. I suppose we'll see you in the morning."

She smiled and edged her way out of the room.

Midna plopped down on the rickety frame of one of the cots and immediately winced, her long legs dangling off the bed from mid-thigh down. "Great. A little people cabin. And one of us is bunking on the floor." When nobody responded, she raised an eyebrow. "Hint, hint, boys, it ain't gonna be me."

Vaati rolled his eyes and Ghirahim sneered at his nails. Zant sat, long limbs skeletally hanging off the edge of the cot he was sitting on in a daze. Link sighed. "I'll take the floor."

"Rightfully so," Ghirahim muttered under his breath. Midna flung a handful of sparks at him, at which he frowned.

"That reminds me. Everybody out. I have business with him."

Vaati smiled. "Mommy and Daddy fighting? Shocking."

Zant stood, and Midna put a hand up. "Tall & Creepy, don't go wandering off into the woods. And...stay in the shadows. Or something." She laughed. "Wouldn't want to freak out our poorly cultured country folk, now would we?"

Zant nodded, apparently not finding humor in her joke, and shuffled out of the cabin. Link followed, and shut the door behind him, walking out through the main cabin into the fading twilight outside.

Vaati zipped to his side, blowing off his hat and picking it back up. With a flourish, he tossed it back to Link, who caught it and put it back on his head. "Nice catch, Advisor," Vaati smirked, looking off into the distance. Zant melted into the shadows, just a blackness walking the perimeter of the camp, exploring in the unseen. "He's an odd one."

Link ignored that and said, "thanks."

"What do you think they're arguing about?" Vaati asked, baiting Link, who didn't take it.

"She never did say that they were arguing," he pointed out. The wind mage rolled his eyes.

"Please. They're arguing. Our Fair Princess isn't always in popular vote. Though Ghirahim _does_ follow her around like a pet." He retched, though the irony of him letting Zelda live was heavy in his voice. "I can't see why anybody would follow that hot head around by choice."

Link considered it for a moment, and, biting back a smile, laughed. "I can."

Vaati, who had meandered a few feet away, whooshed back to his side with a wicked force, laughing. "I'd keep that to yourself, Advisor. Ghirahim isn't friendly. Consider him a puppy that follows her around...with overgrown jaws and a meat-eating complex."

The man in green held up his hands as a sign of peace. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know that," the wind mage smirked. "But don't expect Ghirahim to buy it. Watch your back. He's a psychopath."

/

Midna looked at Ghirahim, expression devoid of any emotion. "I'd say it's time you fess up about what we're actually doing here, Ghirahim." Her voice was calm, measured, and very unlike herself as she crossed her legs underneath her, propping herself up on her cot.

"Please, dearest," he smirked, taking his eyes momentarily off of his nails to examine her face, and then, in a condescending mock, "we're here to help our good friends of the Light Realm now. To save the honorable and demure Princess high up in her spires, locked away from the peril her land faces...or, to face off with common street thugs? You are in charge here, and that is merely _your_ decision."

"You're acting insane," she commented. "Getting really defensive around the Hylians. Creeping on them. Acting sadistic."

"You think it's amusing," he stated, lips pulled in a smile.

"I understand your psychosis. Doesn't mean I think it's amusing," she asserted, a flash of rage crossing her face. She quickly composed herself. "Look. You need to cut it out. We have a reputation here, and we can't afford to lose it. It's _your_ head on the line. Don't forget that."

"Forgive me," he muttered, flashing. She jumped and landed on her feet, while he appeared in front of her, sneering. "But, dearest Princess, I don't think you would win out in a duel."

The markings on her arms glowed, as if to prove him wrong, and she smirked. "Lay off, Ghirahim. Get rid of the bizarre antics." She turned to the door, as if to leave, but shot him a look. "Oh. And stop looking at Advisor Short Stuff like you're going to slice and dice him."

"I just might," he muttered.

"He's a good kid," she responded, narrowing her fiery eyes. "Don't hurt him. It might annoy me enough to kill you. Save the citizens the trouble of putting up a fair trial."

The Demon laughed. "Nobody, Princess, is good, regardless of the innocence they might portray. Don't forget that."

She took a step out the door, ignoring him. "You get the floor tonight, Ghirahim. I don't want to hear any bitching about it."

/

Link begrudgingly admitted to himself that Vaati had been right: Midna and Ghirahim had certainly argued. When the sky went dark and he went back to the cabin, villagers of the settlement all tucked away into their houses-scared, perhaps-with Vaati and Zant, Ghirahim was nowhere to be seen, though Midna was sulking in her bed.

As the light of Midna's artificial torch flickered, Link slouched down into the corner, eyeing the empty cot as Zant and Vaati disappeared into their respective mounds of blankets.

Midna looked at him in the dim air. "Short Stuff. Ghirahim decided he wanted fresh air. He's not coming back tonight, so stop looking pathetic and take the spare cot."

Taking in mind Vaati's comment, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of sleeping on Midna's side of the room, but being exhausted from the day's journey and encounter with beasts, he couldn't refuse the call of a rickety mattress. "Sure." He stood, stretched, and flopped down into the cot, facing the screen. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, kid."

Outside, sitting cross legged in the canopy of a tree just outside of the perimeters of the fort, Ghirahim sulked, demonic eyes uncaring of the need for sleep. All he really dreamed of was Midna, power, and now, strangling the life out of the pesky Advisor.

/

Zelda woke up with a chill dancing over her skin, the flashes of a burning nightmare skidding around her vision. With a start, she flung the blankets off of herself and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her body still intact. The nightmares really never did stop for her, and they've been there for years, certainly as long as she has been alone.

Though her body was still whole, she felt as though there were gaping holes in her soul, missing pieces from where there were once warm beings. A mother, a father, a cousin, a friend, a lover, all gone, plucked from the face of the earth. And for some reason, though the loss wasn't always there, Zelda felt so acquainted with the feeling of something being _gone_ that she was sure, through time and space and souls, that she had felt it before.

Outside her window, a virgin pink blushed the sky, with dawn on the horizon in just moments. With the dawn, Zelda knew that her day would begin, and that a much-dreaded Council Meeting would take place.

The agenda would be delivered to her moments before the meeting, to allow her to compose herself, though it was never much of a help. The meetings were full of arguments and lip service, and with the conspiracy against her, she had no desire to go to them.

But, it was her duty.

Throwing a silk robe on, she opened her door and gestured to one of the night attendants-Rose, she recognized her name. "Good morning, Rose."

"Good morning, Princess Zelda! Are you alright? You're up quite early."

"Fine, thanks." She smiled warmly. "I'd just like to start my day a bit early. Would it be trouble to have my bath water drawn?"

"No trouble at all, Princess. It'll be ready in the beauty room across the hall momentarily."

"Thank you, Rose," Zelda smiled, retreating back into her room and half-heartedly leaning over her desk, flipping her fingers over the pages, looking for an answer to the whispers in her mind and the holes in her soul. She did not find one, however, before the a soft knock came at the door.

"Your bath is ready, Princess."

Zelda nodded and stood. "Thank you very much."

She walked to a door just away from her room, stripping of her nightclothes and sinking into the warm bathwater, scented and lovely. Her mind briefly wandered to Link and the rest of the Twilit group, who most definitely _were not_ going to be enjoying a warm bath in Farorica Settlement-Zelda knew enough about its rural location to know that it wasn't ripe with amenities.

The Princess would have given anything to sink under the water and not have to face her day ahead, but, alas, duty called. She plunged her head under the water, submerging, a countdown already starting.

/

Link got the strange feeling that somebody was staring at him, hovering between sleep and consciousness, eyes thick like wet cloth. The feeling, however, of being watched would not shake off and he reached under his pillow, where he had stashed a dagger, and sat up.

Ghirahim was leaning against the wall by Midna's empty bed, examining his fingernails. "Good morning, Advisor," he said, tone icy, eyes startling. "The other three are already awake." When Link did not respond, Ghirahim grinned and inquired, "Did you have a pleasant sleep?"

"Uh..." Link resheathed his dagger. "Yeah." He looked out the rickety window, where it still looked dark outside. He took into factor how rested he felt and that the canopy of trees likely blocked the dim early morning light, and swung out of bed. "So where are they?"

"In the main cabin. Talking with the two charming damsels we so nobly rescued, and the old woman, Chlaudian." Ghirahim's pleasantries were false to Link, who strongly suspected that he was going to wake up with a knife in his chest someday soon.

"I guess we'd better go join them then, right?" Link asked.

Ghirahim nodded.

"You first," Link said, gesturing to the door. Ghirahim obliged. _Just to be safe, _he thought.

In the main cabin, Charlise sat next to Alia, who had a long bandage running up her leg, and Chlaudian sat behind the two of them. Midna opted to stand stiffly, arms crossed over her chest, with Vaati levitating in the corner next to Zant. "Morning, gentlemen," Charlise greeted.

"Good morning," Link smiled. "Glad to see your leg is looking better, Alia. Sorry about that."

"Do not be worried, Advisor," Chlaudian interrupted. "In the woods, where you never know whether the shadows are friend or foe-"

Midna laughed, rattling Link's bones, and Chlaudian continued, "you can never be too careful."

"We want to get rid of the infestation, for safety's sake," Link informed her. "It may have a connection to something being investigated in Castle Town, and we want to find out."

Vaati, in the corner, ducked as Zant discarded a book from a shelf. Link frowned at their odd behavior, but looked back to Chlaudian with a smile. Ghirahim materialized at Midna's side and she didn't bother to swat him away.

Link was sufficiently puzzled.

"The infestation is near impossible to clear," Charlise chimed in. "That's what we've been trying to do."

"Yeah, but we come equipped with shiny spells," Midna quipped, snapping her fingers and extinguishing the following cyan sparks.

"So do some of the beasts," Chlaudian cautioned.

Link sighed. "Let me put it this way: it's in my job description. I won't go home to the Princess empty-handed."

The Hylian rogue women smiled. "It may be noble of you to try," Chlaudian allowed. "And you may go into the woods with our blessing. You will not run into any of our villagers out there-Charlise and Alia patrol, sure enough, but they are the only ones. Many of our people are very distrusting and reclusive. They do not leave town."

Ghirahim was silent as Midna spoke. "Ight, so are there are there any leads on where to find the infestation?"

Alia spoke up. "We think it is in the darkest grove to the south of us-whenever we get close to there, the number of monsters becomes overwhelming."

Midna cracked her knuckles. "Nothing too hard."

"Not as hard as travelling with _you,_" Vaati chirped.

Midna ignored him and continued, "we could find those two 'dark garbed' fellas and bring their heads back on spits-"

Link cut her off. "No. We capture them and take them back for Princess Zelda and the Courts to decide."

The Twilight Princess shrugged, uncaring. "Whatever you say, Short Stuff." She looked back at Chlaudian, Alia, and Charlise. "Sound cool?"

Slowly, Chlaudian looked into Link's eyes, a cautious smile resting upon her lips. "We do not have money with which to repay you, should you be able to vanquish the evil."

He waved his hands, a little horrified that she would expect him to be paid over something like this. "It's no problem. We're not asking payment."

She nodded, as if having somehow knowing that he would say that. "Very well, Advisor and adventurers. I assume you have armed yourself reasonably, with...magic tricks and, of course, your sword. Our armory is humble, but open to you should you need it."

"I believe we'll fare splendidly without use of your humble weapons," Ghirahim smiled coldly.

"Remember that should it come that we fight a battle," Zant chimed in, flashing to Ghirahim's side.

Chlaudian nodded. "Then may the Goddesses shine blessings upon you five."

/

Zelda sat and fidgeted with the edge of her shirt. It gave her a bit of glee. She was wearing a long, golden tunic-style top with the Hylian crest on it, and long, graceful black trousers paired with laced up archer's boots. The outfit itself, she realized, was going to cause controversy to the nitpicking ways of the Councilmen-a woman _not_ wearing a dress would certainly be an upset, and for all the shadows that they had sent after her, Zelda couldn't help herself but to push their buttons.

Sitting in the waiting room that winged the left side of the Grand Council Room, the center of Hyrule Castle, she wondered what the Councilmen she was about to face were thinking. She knew that Paul Bablin was a slug who was trying to sway her fake Advisor away from her. She hadn't heard from the other Bachest Councilman since the last meeting-Eric Salendon was more reclusive and spent his days in a villa in northeast Castle Town, giving financial consultations to his heirs, or electrocuting himself with whatever witchcraft he was attempting. The two Bachests, though greedy and exceptionally slimy, didn't come close to annoying her as much as the two Karkesets-Peter Zoten, a former Hyrule Castle City Guard peace officer; and Samuel Mastes, some sort of cultish fanatic that used to preach radical sentiments about the Goddesses and managed ranches in the countryside. They made her skin crawl. They twisted every single thing that came out of her mouth, tied the hands of the police officers, and most of all, lied to her face.

And, most importantly, she knew that at least one of them was working against her-and, maybe more.

A servant walked through the door and handed a regal envelope to the Princess. "The Agenda for the meeting today, your Highness. You have...ten minutes until the Council begins."

"Thank you," she muttered. The servant left her in silence and she ripped open the envelope.

The Agenda was simple: three bullet points, each relating to a current issue. One: the economic policy of mining with the Gorons needed to be renewed. Two: Tighter security measures for public figures-Zelda snorted on that one-needed to be enacted. Three: the Rosulyla.

She ran her fingers through her hair, hanging down her shoulders, and exhaled through her teeth somewhat nervously. Fairly simple agenda. Nothing more than the usual. But, somehow, with Link moonlighting as her Advisor and actively knowing threats against her Kingdom, Zelda could not help but shake a little bit.

The clock hanging above the double doors to the Grand Council Room chimed, and Zelda stood, placing her hands against the doors and counting to three before pushing them open.

/

The woods were...alive.

Midna couldn't describe it exactly, but the trees around them moved as if puppets on a clown's fingers and the sun spiraled down, down through the canopies, rather diluted from its daylight glory by the time it reached the group of five. They had departed from the Settlement about an hour ago, though they couldn't have progressed more than a couple of miles.

The woods had become a maze, shrubs growing so thick and mangled in some places that they would have to turn around and go a different way. Strange birds, like crows, but somehow _not_ flew overhead and then soared away, cawing in the distance. They had encountered two of the dark beasts they had seen the day before, and Link still jumped a little from seeing them. Ghirahim had dispersed them with a mere flick of his hand.

Link suddenly regretted getting on his bad side.

"They are watching us," Zant remarked, pointing up to the dark black birds.

Vaati blew a gust of wind at one, sending it flying. "I think he's right."

Midna sighed and rolled her eyes. "Duh." She looked at Link. "There probably is some home base up ahead and they're reporting back. Should be exciting."

Link frowned. "I don't think we have similar definitions of exciting, Midna."

Interrupting them, Ghirahim flashed ahead, to where the the forest limbs branched down and curled into a dark mangrove, like a house. Inside its entrance, it was blacker than any sort of natural night, and creeped out in charcoal miasma. Growls resounded from deep inside. "It appears that we have discovered our source."

/

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, folks. **


	15. Chapter 15

**In penance for how long it took for the last chapter, and with some busy days up ahead that might delay another update, here is a very juicy chapter for our lovely readers! We so appreciate all of the favorites, alerts, and reviews!**

She, as usual, was the last to enter the room, as the highest of stature. The four Councilmen sat tensely around the ornate mahogany table, Karkests on one side, Bachests on the other. The singular, throne like chair at the end of the table was hers for the taking. Several feet of floor surrounded each side of the table, but none was filled; the table and chairs were the solitary objects in this solemn room.

"Good day, gentlemen," Zelda smiled, fluidly walking to her seat and crossing her legs as she sat. "I trust you have all been well?"

The Bachests glared, making no attempt to mask their discontent with her. The Karkests, on the other end, were their usual passive-aggressive selves and acted friendly to her, Peter Zoten nodding and Samuel Mastes saying, "Very well, Princess, and yourself?"

She could have been flattered, but Zelda knew that the Karkests were damn well hiding something sinister, and her reply was a simple, "Fine." She held up her copy of the agenda. "Let's start off simple-the economic mining policy for the Gorons. Are there any issues with it?"

"Shouldn't you be aware of that, Princess?" Eric Salendon, seated next to his fellow Bachest Paul Bablin, coldly inquired. With a mental sigh, she began her normal headache. The windows captured the cool gray light from the outdoors and, in addition to the candlelit chandalier that hung, gave an eerie apathetic feeling to the room.

She smiled at him. "As should you. I haven't seen any issues with it and I have not heard any formal complaints in our Courts. Have any of you?"

He frowned.

Peter Zoten leaned in, balding and lanky with hollow eyes. "The policy has been renewed for years upon years with no inspection of the safety measures and labor preventions in the mines. I do not believe a sign-off is in order until we've conducted a full audit of its facilities. Shouldn't take more than three months."

_And...the stab,_ she thought to herself, nodding carefully. "A full audit? Surely, Mr. Zoten-"

"You're just hurt that the Gorons don't enjoy answering to your Country authorities," Paul Bablin spat. Zelda held up a finger for silence, though she saw his point in that Mr. Zoten had held a grudge against anyone who dared complain about the unfair treatment from the Guard.

"That is neither here, nor then, Mr. Bablin," she mediated, smoothly turning back to Peter Zoten. "As I was saying, the policy expires in two weeks. A three month audit would cause a small crisis for the Goron people's economy, taking into consideration their relative independence. They are still our people to govern and I cannot justify a full audit under those circumstances, especially thinking of the ore shortage merchants and artisans here in town would face."

"So if the Gorons are grossly mishandling the mines? Making youth work? Breaking rules? Surely, Princess, you must have the heart to think of this possible transgressions..." Zoten continued, voice full of virtue and yet eyes amused, full of vice, with Samuel Mastes watching coolly.

She knew his political tatrum would be absolutely _rich_ should she dismiss his ridiculous concerns, so, taking a deep breath, Zelda said, "The Gorons haven't ever been untrustworthy in the past, but I see no reason why we should not check up on them, not with a full audit, but with a partial one...even to make sure, for instance, that they're using the most modern technology we have available. That being said," she took a pause and gestured to Paul Bablin, "As Mr. Bablin kindly pointed out, the Gorons are not happy with the Country Guard and we may face difficulty with compliance. Peter, since your colleague Samuel Mastes has some experience _as _a Country Guardsman, how about we ask him for suggestions?"

Samuel Mastes smiled. "Princess Zelda is correct in that the Gorons do not like our Guard." He passively left out that Bablin pointed it out first. "I would be more than happy to help assemble a _private_ audit team, rather than a kingdom-run one."

Eric Salendon, who had been silent for a majority of the meeting so far, _snarled_ from across the table. "And what _ever_ would make you think that the Gorons would answer to your petty private investigators?"

"And who would _pay_ for that private security team? Certainly not the people," Paul Bablin raised his eyebrows. "That would be-"

Zelda brought her hand down on the table. It shook the wood. "Order, please. Mr. Mastes, these are valid concerns. Any answers?"

He nodded. "The Gorons would answer to a private audit team if one of the private investigators were a manager in their trading. I know just the fellow, he's an old friend. Now...as far as _payment, _we can have a temporary tax raise on businesses dealing with Goron ore-"

Immediately, the Princess thought of Link's findings, with the businesses struggling under the Rosulyla's grip and the lack of help from the Guards. She frowned, troubled. "I don't think our businesses can handle a small tax increase at this time, Mr. Mastes."

"Why ever not?"

"I've received data from research for the Archives and business protocols that shows a strain on businesses here in Castle Town and ranchers in the countryside," she said, stiffly, feeling Paul Bablin's eyes on her. She felt a chill go up her spine, leaving coldness in its wake.

"Ah, yes, the Princess has a new Advisor. The little man in green. We met shortly," Bablin smirked, condescendingly so, and smugly looked at Zelda as the other Advisors reacted. He was certainly proud to be the only one who knew the Advisor.

The air almost darkened, a sort of predatory curiosity coming down on Zelda. She quickly wiped her face clean of emotions, devoid of any hints that would give them any leads on Link. They were buzzards, and with the Twili hanging around him, he was fresh meat to them. "You must mean my Advisor Link. Yes, he's newly appointed," she smiled.

"A shame your new Advisor cannot join us today to share his findings," Samuel Mastes commented dryly.

"Indeed. He is in Farorica Settlement, investigating an issue further there," she smiled back. "And will report back to me with more trading data soon."

At the mention of Farorica Settlement, Samuel's face fell, brow furrowing. He scribbled something down on the scroll paper he had in front of him, hastily, shakily, before looking back at the Princess-as if remembering to respond to her. "Farorica Settlement? That's lovely. I used to patrol out there..." he trailed off, clearing his throat. "No matter. A tax increase will have to do."

Zelda shook her head. "I can't approve that in good conscience. Who else votes against the idea?"

Paul Bablin and Eric Salendon both raised their hands, probably just to irk the other Councilmembers.

She looked back to Samuel and Peter. "We'll have to think of something else, then."

"A recreational loan," suggested Eric. "I'm sure that I can find a bank that will be willing to grant one for the goodness of our mining treaty."

Zelda nodded once, firmly, though she knew that a banking deal was getting into bed with the devil. "That sounds fair. Objections?"

Though Peter Zoten and Samuel Mastes seethed, they did not object. She smiled. "Excellent. Now, onto our next item..."

/

Link took a deep breath, instantly regretting doing so-the smell from the enclosed section of trees was overpowering, smelling like rotten meat left in the heat for days to spoil and decompose. The forest had changed as they approached. Coming from the Castle, it was a pleasant, full, bountiful area with oaks and willows and dusty ground that grew reddish as they progressed towards the Settlement, but now the ground had become deep brownish purple, muddy, with puddles of water that looked green and sickly littering the 'trail' that they were attempting to follow. The trees had changed from the healthy green colors to dull, brownish curled and mangled ones, with the limbs following suit, curling inward and outward like tortured appendages. The canopy had gotten thicker, blocking the sunlight almost entirely.

Midna, who had circled around Vaati, Zant, and Ghirahim to stand by Link at the spearhead of the group, raised her hands out in front of her, facing the black hole of an entry into the enclosed tree circle. With no warning, transparent blue wafted out from her hands, coming forward at the black smoke-like miasma and dispelling it. Immediately, the trees seemed to reach for it, like strong winds had brought them at it and it was replenishing them. Link gawked, astonished, as life returned, and then closed his mouth solemnly as the blackness again resumed the steady flow into the air around them. "We've got to destroy whoever is making this stuff," she said, putting her hands back at her sides. "I'm not entirely sure what it is...probably just a bunch of dark auras together, but I can't be sure."

Ghirahim snorted. "It is quite pathetic how weak this Light Realm flora is. If our glorious Twilight Realm plants wilted like this at such minor spells, we would live in a barren wasteland."

Before Midna could turn around to anger at him, more growls sounded and the beasts from inside the den started to flow out like a steady stream of ugly, screaming pig-like monsters with rucksack clothes and makeshift weapons. Link drew his sword in a smooth movement and began to defend the group as they sent huge waves of Twilit magic towards the hordes.

He was surprised at the strength of these creatures compared to the ones that they had encountered farther out, and he remained diligent as he blocked clubs and machetes and dull pieces of metal. Midna was concentrating on the second row of the monsters, thinning Link's opponents significantly. They dropped consistently, creating piles of dead bones as the creatures mindlessly continued attacking. Zant, with movements of his hands and shoulders, seemed to be creating huge blasts of energy farther back, inside of the settlement, annihilating the monsters where they stood. The disgusting odor from earlier wafted right into the group's disgusted faces.

Link couldn't see Vaati from his peripheral vision, but he could see Ghirahim, who was looking bored and directing his red diamond-shaped gems into the fray. When he saw Link's minor interest, he smirked and sent one that nearly grazed his cheek directly into the neck of the monster that he was fighting. Link was quite glad that it dispersed into bones and smoke instead of remaining a bloody and possibly beheaded mess at his feet.

Vaati, with a happy jump in his step, leapt up onto a bent branch of the outside wall of the den. With a motion of drawing a sword, one appeared in his hands, vicious and jagged, with thorn-like parrying hooks along the first foot of the blade, which appeared to span his entire height. He held the hilt with one hand and the base of the blade, which was wrapped in leather, with the other, and began making huge slices into the air.

At first, Link thought that it wasn't doing anything, until the beast in front of him reached for a second club and raised it up, about to bring it down on Link's head. With another slice from Vaati, the club split down the middle, cutting the beast down with it. A small breeze of air reached Link, reminding him of the mage's powers, and he looked closer at his motions and saw other groups of beasts falling. Midna, who thrust her hands out in front of her and then swept them aside, moving the beasts east like a large blanket of frightening creatures. Ghirahim, seeing her motion, stretched his arms out and in his hands appeared two vicious sabres.

The Demon Lord began to wade into the fray of creatures, swords in each hand, slicing neatly as he danced through them. Diamonds flew from the blows that he made, like lethal sparks of metal, and made neat columns in front of him to be sent out into the approaching enemies. They fell, and Ghirahim's shape was soon obscured by the purple dying smoke.

Link, who was now simply standing with his sword and shield at his side, raised his eyebrows, earning a loud burst of laughter from Midna and a blank look from Zant, who had stopped his explosions and now stood empty handed a few feet away. Vaati leapt down, slinging the sword over his shoulder-Link couldn't help but cringe when the blade made contact with his tunic and didn't cut through it-and, using his free hand, clapped Link on the back lightly. As the final wave of beasts fell, the group began approaching the entry.

Midna, repeating her action from earlier, began to feed the forest the transparent blue mist once more. The trees, reaching inward towards it, flourished once more, becoming willows and poplars and oaks instead of sickly congealed branches. The ground under their feet turned light again, drying, the grasses rising back into tufts of green. Link could now clearly see that there was water nearby. Through the trees that had relaxed back into normal stances, he could almost spot a gentle gurgling brook.

Ghirahim flashed to Midna's side, apparently done annihilating the monsters. The trees, having curled back into regular formations, revealed a small structure, leaned against a few large willow trees. It appeared to be a makeshift tent, tall and rounded at the bottom with a grassy roof. A panel of fine fabric barred the entry.

With cautious steps, Link and the rest approached, readying themselves for whatever resided in the more luxurious housing. Midna, stepping forward, held out a hand to pause the group. Using her fingertips to trace upwards in the air, the cloth-like sides of the tent pulsated, becoming transparent for a small minute. Inside, two figures were standing against the back corner, surrounding what looked like a small fire.

Link nodded, apparently satisfied with this small glimpse into the Rosulyla mage's tent. Then, with lightning speed and a cry of "No!" on her lips, Midna tore the shelter down, not even earning a look from the cloaked figures.

The fire surged upwards, consuming everything, exploding outwards in a gargantuan ball of flame. In an even faster movement, Ghirahim had snatched Midna away from the fire, reappearing somewhere else in the clearing. The heat burst forth at the remaining three figures, scorching the earth beneath them and charring it. Link fell backwards, almost consumed as well, before a huge gust of wind pushed the fire backwards, concentrating it at its origin.

Midna put a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as she watched Vaati extinguish the remaining flame. Ghirahim was stoic beside her, his long features set in stony silence. Link stood, brushing himself off, stomping on the few embers that still burned beside him. Zant, who had been behind the entire group from the start, was staring at the tent with curiosity.

"They're dead," Link stated, looking for one of the Twilit mages to tell him that they had just escaped and had not, in fact, committed a fiery suicide. He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah," Midna affirmed. She rubbed her temples. "That spell was out of their league, too."

"Perhaps they were not, in fact, as weak as we assumed they were," Ghirahim said, his voice conversational. He stepped forward to view the smoldering remains of the camp. "Their fear of capture was greater than their fear of death. How unusual."

"Now what? We came all this way for nothing?" Vaati, who had finished eliminating the flames, asked. He bounced his sword onto his other shoulder. Link stepped forwards.

"If there's nothing that we can find out here...I guess we head back to Castle Town."

With loud groans from everyone, the group faded back into the deep forest.

/\\\\\

Zelda rubbed her temples and took a sip from the delicate cup of tea that the servants had brought her halfway through the meeting. The air had become substantially thicker, tensions were flying, and, as usual, Zelda had a nasty headache that she'd have to resort to brandy to fix later.

"Alright, gentlemen," she said, calmly holding up the agenda. "Last item on our agenda, and then we can all go get back to working on our respective duties."

Paul Bablin snorted when Zelda said "duties," which she promptly ignored, carefully flipping through a list of dates, times, names, and places. "We have apparently found enough information to perform a raid on the Rosulyla and, perhaps, take Ganon into custody. This man and his followers have terrorized Castle Town and even the countryside for long enough, as we all know, and his tyranny must come to an end. I do not see a more dire priority. Thoughts?"

Peter Zoten immediately stiffened and said, "Considering the past failures, we cannot afford to put the lives of more soldiers in jeopardy in this wild goose chase!"

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "This is solid intel," she said, referring to the file. "It can be a volunteer-only basis.. Ralis will lead it."

"Ralis does not understand the political consequences of such a raid. No soldier or commander does. They have poorly executed numerous raids in the past, therefore, we cannot focus on a singular covert raid. We _must _declare an all out-war on anybody associating with the Rosulyla. Anybody who is caught talking to their thugs is sentenced to public hanging." Bablin leaned back in his chair, arms crossed firmly across his chest.

Peter Zoten and Samuel Mastes both opened their mouths to protest, but Zelda was faster. "The consequences of _that _are impossibly great. Many shop keepers have had to deal with the Rosulyla's antics and have tried to be civil about it-will they be strung up for all to see, as well?"

Eric Salendon frowned. "If _I _owned a shop, I would simply not allow Rosulyla near it. Or maybe ask one of the useless little City guards to-"

"Useless?!" Zoten stood up in his chair, leaning across the table, seething into Salendon's face. "The City guards are a respectable and reasonable fleet-"

_Who take bribes, _Zelda thought. "Order," she calmly stated, the ruckus drowning her out.

"Control yourself, you filthy pacifist!"

"Greedy banker!"

Zelda fluidly picked up her tea cup and smashed it down on the fine table, an explosion of fine porcelain, china shards raining down around the room, silencing the fight. She raised her eyebrows, and, in her most commanding voice, "I will not hear anymore of your squabbling, name calling, and flat out political horse shit. The raid will be authorized, its participants will be volunteered, and to make sure that it is properly executed, _I myself will go on the raid, _so dated three days from now, at the stroke of midnight, at the Old Hylian Industrial House. Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?"

They sat, astonished and raging, and there was silence. "Very good. Council adjourned."

And with that, Zelda stood from her chair and walked from the room.

/

The air was far, far too hot, with a wind that was far, far too cold.

Samuel Mastes drew his cloak tighter to his body, the blackness of the moonless night having come to rest in a murky fog upon his shoulders as he strolled the streets that he avoided at all costs, out of the Central Square, to the southeastern district of town, one of the poorest, most crime ridden industrial areas in Hyrule. It was, by all means, deserted now. Deserted to those he would worry about, anyway. He passed boarded up houses and lean-to-shacks with dim light burning inside, like the foggy orbs of lanterns that cast shadows along the alleys.

Finally, he reached the lesion, crossing his arms over his chest and shivering. _I am too old for this, _he admitted to himself. He had wanted a comfortable lifestyle, one where he could commit any moral trangressions-aka legislation-in peace, in a plush home, with the people behind him, not the thugs waiting to twist a knife into his back. But, alas, he always had to be the hero, the martyr, the one to take the blow. He pitied himself as he puffed his hands together in front of the decrepit, shambled storefront he stood in front of at the corner of an alley.

He impatiently flipped open his golden pocket watch. They were late. Had his message not been delivered to his usual contact?

"You are certainly egotistical," an imposing voice that shot daggers down Samuel's back appeared behind him and he whirled, coughing nervously and taking in the form, bathed in shadows. Big, bulking. Eyes the color of blood lit with fire.

Not his usual contact. But he had heard stories, whispers, rumors that were always cut off-

Samuel's heart began to race, but he cleared his throat, anxious laughing choking out. "I am but a humble servant of the people," he smiled. "And you are?"

The bulking man waved a hand. "Your message said that there was...trouble, as you put it. Tell me."

"I'm under orders to only talk to my usual handler about such issues-"

The man stepped from the shadows, a black and red cloak hiding his body, though a broadsword was strapped to his side. He was a monster. Easily six and a half feet and wide as a vendor's cart. "When a pesky little, cowardly political associate of ours gets out of a botched Council meeting and sounds the alarm, it draws attention. It went to the top."

"The top?"

The rumors, then, were true.

"_Speak, _Councilman, or I'll make sure you never do again."

Samuel gulped. "The Princess has a new Advisor. Paul Bablin called him the man in green-"

The man smashed his fist into the storefront wall, shards of brick exploding as he did so, and, on contact with his hand, melting in a flame so hot it was turning _white. _He clenched his fist and extinguished it. "Man in _green. _The little bastard who has been meddling on the streets..."

"Him." Samuel felt sweat pouring down his chest, his heart thrumping in his chest, but he held his ground. "Ahem, well, he's...in Farorica Settlement right now."

"Two of my men disappeared in Farorica today. Or, rather, some of my more petty scouts found them dead. I had business in that Settlement...a firm establishment of power there. And _you, _coward, are telling me that Zelda's _Advisor _did this?"

Samuel nodded.

"I have had enough of this man's interference and of Zelda hiring nosy little politicians to do her bidding. And at a time where foreigners come into town. What do you know that you are not _telling _me?" The man lit a fireball and tossed it at Samuel's boots, singing them around the edges, the Councilman letting out a little yelp.

"I don't know anything about any foreigners-b...but Princess Zelda has organized a raid in three days and will be there herself!" He blurted.

The man stepped back and lifted his chin up, a flash of white teeth scalding against the shadows of his face. "Well," he said. "That's golden. I assume it's the raid at the Old Hylian...?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there myself. It's been far too long . . ._years, _since I was able to personally strike fear into that woman's heart. Perhaps, this time, I will finish the job...plunge this country into darkness _once _and for all. Would you like that, Samuel?"

Samuel didn't respond.

The man smiled. "Cowardly, as I thought."

He jumped back into the shadows and morphed into them, let their dark shapes devour his, and Samuel slammed against the storefront window in fright. But, as he looked at where the man had been standing only seconds before, there was mere stillness in the shadows.


	16. Chapter 16

**"I was breaking out of my own skin, choking upon release. I'm in no state to judge you, scratching itches best left alone, chasing memories I used to own..." - Crush by Pendulum**

**/\\\**

Take aside saying goodbye to the reclusive yet kind citizens of the Farorica Settlement, Link and the Twilight visitors did not make any stops on their way into Castle Town, reaching it in the early evening, the last of the sun's rays bleached from the sky.

Ghirahim, who had been sulking the entire trip home-apparently not found of the outdoors-leaned against an alley wall as Link took a sip from his canteen. His eyes were black in the dim dusk light."Shall we return to our fair Princess Zelda's castle and share what useless information we gained?"

"Not so fast. I'm _starving, _and my feet hurt, and I need a drink. We're all going to Telma's," Midna announced, laughter bubbling past her lips as she looked at Zant and Vaati. "Keep your cloak on, Tall & Creepy, so Telma will actually serve us."

"I am not hungry," Zant informed her statically.

"Buzzkill," she waved a hand away. "Then be a good boy and go wait in some shadowy corner while I shovel some food in my mouth, okay?

Just like that, in a silent flash, Zant _did _morph into the shadows, slinking away along the alley wall until he was invisible to the group.

"Uh...should we really let him go off on his own like that?" Link asked. Ghirahim snorted, but Vaati answered.

"Let him go off on his own. More fun for our little group," the mage grumbled, blowing a gust of fair into Ghirahim's face. "Turn that frown upside down, good Lord Ghirahim." A fierce smile played upon his lips.

Link grinned. "Don't be too judgmental, Vaati. Ghirahim wasn't too happy the last time we went to Telma's."

Midna hip-bumped Link with an eye roll, nearly toppling him over. "And I got smashed. Unhappy Ghirahim and drunk me-what's not to love about that? C'mon. Let's go."

The Demon Lord smiled, fanged and glistening, and drew his cloak over his body. "I have a premonition that it's going to storm tonight. Don't indulge in too much drink, dearest, or we'll have to carry you back to the Castle."

They stared down the streets, weaving through alleys to near Telma's, and Midna snorted. "Was that a thinly veiled 'you need to lose some weight' insult?"

Vaati laughed darkly as they weaved far enough west, the buildings to the north of the street beginning to look a little shambly-Telma's Bar _did _border on a seedy area-and Link stopped in front of the tavern's door. "Here we are. Fond memories," he smiled.

The bar was modestly populated, with a few citizens sitting at the counter, loudly clanging pitchers of beer together. Link made eye contact with Telma and led the group to a more secluded area, a rickety table in the back, dimly lit by torchlight.

"Well, look who it is," the bartender smirked, "the grando Advisor Link, his 'foreign friends,' Mida and Ghira...lin? And who is this fellow in purple?"'

Midna loudly laughed. "Midna, not Mida, Ghirahim, not Ghiralin, and purple-dude-in-need-of-a-haircut is Vaati. I'm hurt that you remembered Link's name and not mine, by the way. I demand a discount." She smiled wickedly.

Telma shook her head. "No can do, Middy. And don't let it go to your head. The only reason I got Link's name right is because of the big stink Zelda's making in all the tabloids and conversations in town."

"Big stink?" Link asked, quirking his head curiously.

"We've been roughing it out in the boonies for the past few days," Vaati chirped in, sending a breeze fluttering at Telma's skirt. She turned around, looking for the perpetrator and finding nothing. Shaking her head, she turned back to the group, confused by Vaati's barely restrained giggles.

"There was a Council meeting this morning. Went badly. Paul Bablin and Eric Salonden are calling her a lunatic. Apparently, she threw a tea cup."

"Is that some Hylian expression that I'm not getting?" Midna whispered to Ghirahim.

"No, hon, she really threw a tea cup. Smashed it on the table."

Ghirahim sighed. "What a waste of a perfectly fine china cup, being used for irrelevant purposes such as political violence..." He brushed his hair out of his face and began to drum his fingers on the table as though he was impatient for something.

"I think it's great," Telma commented. "Maybe Our Fair Lady is getting ready to fix some of this nonsense in Hyrule." She adjusted her hair-violet red in the dim light, pulled back-and pulled up her dress bodice, pulling a small notepad from a pocket in the wide skirt. "I guess we'll just have to see. With Advisors like Link here, I think we're ready to make a turn around!" She smiled. "What can I get for you all?"

Midna looked at Link from the corner of a fiery eye and smiled, prompting him to start ordering. "Let's get... two orders of today's special, and four beers."

"I don't _drink, _Advisor," Ghirahim seethingly whispered to Link.

_Too bad, _he thought. _Maybe it'd improve your attitude. _Link looked back to Telma with a smile. "Just bring the fourth beer, Telm."

"Sure things, kids." She nodded briskly before sashaying back to the bar and rowdy customers.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Vaati exhaled through his teeth. "That chick reminds me of Nabooru. Damn. I'm shivering."

Midna heartily laughed. "Aw, poor Vaati."

Link curiously looked at Vaati. "Nabooru?"

"Stay away from the Gerudo Desert," Vaati warned him, wagging a finger in Link's face. "I love to prank...say, this, for instance." He blew a gust of wind at Midna's flowy shirt, exposing a bit of skin on her stomach. She frowned, reached across the table, and wrapped her fingers around Vaati's wrist, nails glowing cyan. His skin vibrated and hissed, the very sound sending shivers down Link's spine, and the wind mage quickly withdrew from her grasp, skin bleached where her nails had dug in. "And she gets pissed enough. Nabooru wants to chop me up and feed me to her rather masculine guards if I so much as laugh in her presence."

Ghirahim sighed, looking up from his nails. "Now that you've gone and mentioned it...I do see a resemblance. Perhaps in her eyes? Blood colored..."

Link ignored Ghirahim for lack of a better word and turned to Vaati. "Tough break."

"Not as tough as yours." Vaati winked at him. Link gave him a quizzical look before returning his gaze to Midna and Ghirahim, who looked amused.

"Ew," Midna commented. "I don't even want to know what I just saw, Gusty, you whore. Was that winkage at Short Stuff? Isn't that illegal here?"

Link turned bright red. Ghirahim snorted, "Please. We all know who he is. . .the pauper in love with the fairest lady Hyrule has to offer, the Princess Zelda."

"I'm her _servant,_" Link emphasized. He was beginning to tire of Ghirahim's idea of him and his relationship with Zelda.

"Kinky," Midna smirked.

"She's not my type," he said shortly.

Telma interrupted the group and slammed their ales down on the table, along with two dishes of what looked like baked strips of root. "Anything else?"

They shook their heads and she returned to her roost at the bar.

"And, do tell us, dearest Advisor...what would your type be?" Ghirahim sneered, looking coldly into Link's eyes, mesmerized as a vulture about to swoop in for prey.

Vaati kicked Link under the table, mouthing a few words and then exhaling. Strangely enough, those silent phrases appeared in a whisper at Link's ear. "Say something before Ghirahim beheads you."

"Uh...I took a vow of chastity!" Link blurted.

Midna, who was taking a sip of her beer, choked and looked at Link as though he had just announced that he had a third foot. Vaati chortled and Ghirahim frowned. "You're bullshitting us, right?" Midna asked.

Stammering, Link took a long drag of his brew. "Uh...I'm serious."

"Did they castrate you or something?!" She asked, completely deadpan. She sounded horrified. Link held in laughter.

"Nabooru knows all about that," Vaati chimed in. "Castration, that is."

"Are we seriously discussing castration over dinner?" Link asked.

Midna nodded. "Yup. Now I'm deathly curious."

Link gulped down his beer and took a bite of one of the roots that Telma had served them. "Sorry, sworn to secrecy."

"We'll see," the Twilight Princess smirked.

Vaati clapped his hands, effectively clearing the air. "Well, let's move on. What are we doing next?" He nonchalantly sipped at his beer, Ghirahim's remaining untouched.

Glad to have a topic change, Link turned to the mage. "Debriefing Zelda and finding out what the hell happened in that Council."

"Weren't we already treated to that little story? Dearest Princess lost her temper and mangled virgin china. Why listen to that drabble again?" Ghirahim asked.

Midna frowned at him from across the table. "Lighten up, sweetie. Drink your beer. Deal with your issues. I'm glad Zelda found a little zeal. I would have had those asshole Councilmen fed to the dogs a long time ago. A tea cup is pretty meager price to pay, anyway."

"Are you so bloodthirsty that you would truly do that, Midna? Feed them to the dogs, as you say?" He raised an eyebrow smugly, the very air around the table seeming to grow darker, like an invisible arrival of thick onyx fog.

Vaati and Link exchanged a nervous glance and both occupied themselves by taking a drink of their beers.

"Naw. I'd probably just burn them up myself. Get rid of that gene pool," she answered evenly, a small laugh bouncing off of her lips, eyes narrowing. "Do share, o highest Demon Lord, what would _you _do to said corrupt assholes?"

He smiled politely, though it had danger drawn at its edges. "Assuming, of course, that they truly are corrupt. . .what do you think _I _would do, dearest?"

Midna snorted. "You're such a diva, you don't want to get your hands dirty...knowing your pompous ass, you'd probably just have me do it for you."

Ghirahim laughed, shaking his head and clucking his tongue in mock offense. "O Twilight Princess, and to think that you thought you knew me-impossible, for you. _Swordplay, _Midna."

The very way that he lingered on the word _swordplay, _a deadly, sadistic symphony all in one word that instantly brought gore to the forefront of Link's mind, silenced the table for whole moments, ticking by painfully, each one bringing a vivid heartbeat with it.

_Sorcery, _Link thought. _It has to be sorcery._ Link coughed after the seemingly decades long silence and raised his mug. "To adventures!"

Midna raised her glass and wordlessly clinked it against Link's mug. Ghirahim looked at his nails, sulking and stewing and silent once more.

Vaati brought his glass up, a wicked smile on his face. "We're all in for one."

/\\\

His shadow, cast across the dirty cobblestone street, wobbled in its movement, unsure of its honest form as its owner walked slowly through the back alleyways. His steps were soft against the stones, light as a feather and silent. The day was over, now, with any person of good intent having gone inside, and, in this area, bolted the doors. He walked in a peculiar way, to those who dared to observe. Those who did walked behind him or in front of him, moving in the same direction.

The one he followed took a sharp turn to the side, into another alley beside a shabby tent-like lean to. He ducked underneath a clothesline, into an open tavern door, and then out the front of that same establishment, all to avoid the stranger who trailed him since sunset. Finally, after moments more of turns and twists in the roads, he whirled, a blade sharp in his hand as he confronted his pursuant. "Who are you?" he demanded, throwing out a hand to strike the shoulder and missing in a movement too fast for any normal human being.

His pursuant, towering over him, over six and a half feet tall and thin as a rail, simply stepped to the side. He did not answer the man's question. "Continue to your destination," he ordered, voice hollow and metallic and cold. As the man's eyes continued upwards, observing a simple black tunic beneath an eccentric cloak, he met two glowing orbs, bright like a burning sun set inside sallow blue gray skin...

The man, horrified, stumbled backwards, back flush with the alley wall. "What do you want?" He sputtered, drawing his red and black cloak forth around his shoulders, raising his blade to protect himself from the demon in front of him.

"Take me," the demon began, "to Ganondorf."

/\\\

_ Midna turned, the fabric of her traditional Twili royal dress splaying out away from her as she whirled. There was no audience here, not this time. It was late-she could feel it in her bones, the fatigued and sluggish movement of her body-and deserted, though she could feel an expectation of one, like a popular restaurant found entirely empty. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the faint glow of Sols in the Twilight, and the black stone of the main square where she now stood. The realm was cold, like ice on her skin, and she stared across from her blankly, expecting something, anything, different than what stood across from her now. _

_ He sauntered forward, simply, usually, but his white garments were no longer spotless. His gloves-with one, he reached for her, palm turned up, an invitation-dripped crimson, pooling beneath him like a thin sheen of water on damp floor. His hair, white as snow, with drops of it on the tips. His legs, coated in it. His lips, stained red._

_ Midna gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as she stumbled backwards. She could not bring herself to turn her back on him, though his eyes lusted for things unimaginable. She only took those wheeling steps to shield herself from his outstretched arm and its droplets of liquid. And she began to fall, meeting the invisible edge, falling fast, backwards down to the vast ocean of nothingness below the stones._

_ Her hands found no purchase on the edge of the continent. Desperate, terrified, unable to think, she gripped his arm and hauled herself back up, stumbling into him, the blood transferring to her own arms and her own torso. He smiled, lethal, and she closed her eyes._

Midna practically _flew_ out of her bed, the fine silken sheets flying up in a huge rush of wind as she landed several feet away with her back to the stone wall of Zelda's guest suite. The smell of singed fabric filled the air, showing a perfect outline of her hands, balled into fists, on the messy bed linens. Her scars glowed fiercely, painfully, and she sucked in a deep breath, regretting the clarity it suddenly brought to her.

_He's just kidding, he's not serious, he likes being the center of attention, he isn't really going to do it, he's just being strange... _The excuses-her excuses-rang in her ears, loudly, inescapably. Her chest heaved.

Who, indeed, _was_ Ghirahim?


	17. Chapter 17

**"A lonely speaker in a conversation, her words are swimming through his ears again... 'There's nothing wrong with just a taste of what you paid for.'" -The Ballad of Mona Lisa, Panic! at the Disco**

/\\\

Midna was up wandering the halls earlier than she had ever cared to before, a hangover noticeably absent but with plenty of headache to go around, her bizarre dreams still skittering at the forefront of her mind. She found herself leaning against one of the stone walls, looking demurely through the window, watching as night gave way to faint gray dawn, the beginnings of light sprinkling her view of Castle Town.

With no imagery in her mind besides her dreams, she regretted being alone. Her humor was the best way for her to escape from facing what problems she knew lurked right beneath her skin, and there was no one around to charm with wit or bluntness. Thoughts of Ghirahim flashed through her consciousness, leading her to repulsion and affectionate caring and terror and attachment. She didn't know what relevance her dream had, if it had any, and she tried to think of other things as the sun rose.

"I thought I'd be the only one up," Link said, having appeared almost silently at the Twilight Princess' side. She jumped a little. He looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep, either, with his blue eyes still vivid against the blackish circles below them. She wondered if he, too, had been plagued by nightmares.

"Dammit, Shorty, way to sneak up on a girl. Lucky I didn't set you on fire."

He laughed, holding his hands up as a sign of peace. "Sorry."

"You were up later than I was," she muttered, chewing on her lip. "What time did Tall and Creepy get back?"

"I didn't hear anybody come in, actually," Link said. "But we can ask Ghirahim and Vaati, once they're up."

Midna shook her head. "I love being the babysitter for three perfectly capable Twili mages. Definitely how I imagined myself spending my time in Hyrule. That and chasing bad guys." Her sarcasm lightened and she laughed a bit. "Speaking of Vaati, you seem to be buddy buddy with him. Not plotting to steal my kingdom from me, are you, short stuff?"

"And have to fight you for the crown? No thanks." He looked at the glowing markings on her arms that pulsated slightly as she inhaled and exhaled. Her clothes looked unusually simple today, like she had just thrown them on without caring-something that seemed unusual for her. He got the impression that she hadn't slept much.

"Hm," she acknowledged, and then she sighed. "Where are we going today?"

"First? I'm going to talk with Zelda and see what happened. Hopefully, she'll give us an agenda."

"That sounds fine," Midna replied, sliding down the wall to rest.

There was silence for a few moments as the sun began its slow rise upwards, showering everything in grayish light. The windows that the two stared out of faced east, showing the beautiful fields just outside of Castle Town and, farther out, the dusty and reddish Death Mountain Range scarring the pale blue gray of the sky. The sun rose almost in line with the huge volcanic summit, casting dim shadows along the smaller peaks it dwarfed. Just as it broke loose of the geologic constraints, Midna spoke again.

"Do you believe in them? The 'Golden Goddesses' or whatever?"

Link blinked, trying to hear a joke in her question, and then slid down beside her. He grimaced and leaned forward to look at her face. "Was that a serious question?"

Knowing that he wasn't offended and was only confused by her sudden solemnity, she snorted, a few stray strands of hair from her bun falling into her face. "As stupid as it was, yeah, it was a serious question."

"I guess I do," he started, taking a breath. "I feel like all of this history and lore and all of the mysteries just couldn't be...imagined. I don't even know most of the stories, haven't read many of the books, but the ones I know are just too much to be fake. Why the curiosity?"

"I just..." She stopped and started to massage her temples. The dawn was bright now, becoming the start of morning, hurrying her. Her silence spanned for a moment before she continued.

"I feel like there's something here. Something different, that my realm doesn't have. And while this whole 'sun' thing is great, it's not the only major change."

"What-?" Link began to ask. A guest room door opened and Link paused, feeling as though their conversation was private, though simple enough in context.

Ghirahim sauntered out of his guest suite, donning his normal ensemble of suit and cape, his entire _being_ releasing a smug sense of confidence. With critical eyes, he gazed down the hall at his Princess next to the Advisor, sitting inches from each other on the floor, viewing the sunrise. From what he had heard-mumbled voices-they had not been joking with each other. Had she confided something in him? He flashed down the hallway, leaving only a mist of design behind, appearing across from the two, leaning against the window.

"Hello, dear Princess," he greeted her, leisurely crossing his arms across his chest and raising an eyebrow. "Did you sleep well?"

"No." She frowned, looking to Link, a message flashing in her eyes. _Talk later. _It promised trouble. "And yourself?"

"Exceptionally so." He completely ignored Link.

"What time did Zant come crawling back in?" Midna pressed.

"I haven't the faintest idea...I don't care to remember, even so." Ghirahim said, looking at his nails, a smug grin dancing across his face, catty. "Though I'm sure you could convince me."

Link smiled, flipping his palms up. "We wouldn't want to trouble you. How about..." he walked down the hallway, holding up a finger as he reached Zant and Vaati's shared suite. He pounded on the door, loud enough to rattle it. "Vaati!"

A few seconds later, the door blasted open and Vaati gusted out, disheveled, eyes sagging. "What in the hell?!"

Link grinned, gesturing obnoxiously down the hall-clearly mimicking Ghirahim-at the Princess and the Demon Lord. "They want to know if Zant's around."

"He came in around dawn. He's not sleeping or anything. Just staring at the wall."

"Maybe he's depressed," Midna offered sarcastically. She stood and patted Ghirahim on the back, fingernails a little too hot for the touch to have been humorous. "Well, there you go, Ghirahim. I didn't even have to waste my precious words on jogging your memory."

"Pity, that," he smirked. "Would have been dearly amusing to see you try."

Midna smirked and quickly turned her head to Vaati. "Go drag Zant out. We're going to go talk to Zelda."

Vaati narrowed his eyes and glared. "I'm always playing errand boy," he muttered. Still, he gusted down the hall momentarily and re-entered the suite.

Zant sat in the corner of the room, legs crossed, gangly and mediating in the air, a thin, humming cyan line buzzing around his body. He was still wearing his cloak, a shadow cast from its hood over his head. His eyes were open wide, but unseeing, staring into space. Vaati, having garnered an unpleasant connotation for Zant in his head, picked a candle holder from the wall and blew it at the taller mage.

Zant stopped it before it even hit him, holding it evenly in the air just inches from his nose.

The wind mage looked at him narrowly and spoke curtly. "Hey, let's go. Midna wants to talk to Zelda."

The gaze of Zant fell on him, eyes open and alert now. The gesture felt sinister and Vaati frowned, to which Zant smiled. "Twilight," he said, as if a question. He raised his eyebrows at Vaati.

"Home," the wind mage responded shortly.

"It means something," Zant said. He spun in the air, chaotically, until he was sitting cross-legged, upside down, still affixed in the air. It made his already tall limbs look elongated beyond proportion.

Vaati pursed his lips in distaste. "That's not a good look for you, my friend."

"It is a new power of mine," Zant informed him, as if expecting Vaati to be impressed.

_She's right, _the wind mage mentally reaffirmed Midna's thoughts on Zant. _He is crazy. _Still, Vaati couldn't resist a little sarcasm, so he gusted himself into the air. "I can't pull a fancy little aura out of nowhere, but doing some creepy, medicinal stretching in the air? Not a problem." He landed back on his feet and leveled a hard glance at Zant. "Now can get going? Midna is waiting."

"You'll see," Zant said, simply and smugly. Nevertheless, he uncrossed his legs and blinked, the aura around him dissolving as he did so. He stood from the ground, having fallen with no impact, and faded his cloak into his Shadow Storage. Vaati took a look at him and noticed that, on the right side of Zant's head, curving all the way up to his forehead, the mage was missing some locks. It looked as though somebody had lobbed them off all the way to the scalp in a cold, methodical line, leaving behind cold, somewhat iridescent skin on the streak.

A shiver danced down Vaati's spine. Something about that was so...off. _Zant _was off. Rather than asking what it was about, Vaati gusted the door open and stepped out into the hall, breezing down to Link's side. The Advisor looked grateful for the company, he noted.

_Probably more of Ghirahim's antics, _the wind mage thought to himself, giving Link a conspirator's smile. "Don't go pounding on my door anymore. I thought we were buddies."

Link smiled back and flipped his palms up as a sign of peace. He then gestured to Midna. "Blame Midna, not me."

Midna, who was swatting Ghirahim off, rolled her eyes. "You're a big boy. Don't let _me _push you around..." she looked down at her nails and curled a flame into existence. "On second thought, I like having men running around like lost puppies. Do let me push you around..."

Before he could think up a response, Link's eyes flickered down the hallway, where Zant was moseying towards them. His eyes quickly fell upon the curved line of baldness that ran from the top right side of Zant's forehead and went to the base of the back of his neck. Silence fell upon the group and moments passed before somebody came up with a comment.

Midna was the first to break the quiet. "Nice haircut, Tall and Creepy. What, did you let a blind drunkard do that?"

Zant frowned at her.

Ghirahim pursed his lips, flashing to Zant's side in a haze of diamonds. He flipped his own hair, flawlessly manicured, and looked up at the much more imposing Twili mage with a look of patronizing sympathy. "Now, I do believe that this could be corrected. Perhaps you could match it on the other side?"

"No," Zant said.

The Demon Lord rolled his eyes, not terribly unlike Midna would, and then gave Zant a much more steady glare. "_Surely, _you're not intending to be taken as a serious mage on the streets when you have the most dreadful haircut I have ever had the extreme displeasure of seeing."

"Says the 'serious mage' who is giving hair advice to another Twilit," Vaati muttered. Link chuckled. Ghirahim ignored him and just raised his eyebrows.

Zant shook his head firmly.

"How dreadful," Ghirahim remarked dryly, snapping his fingers and reappearing at Midna's side. He ran his fingers through his own hair, as if comforting himself of his own divine appearance, and then tousled Midna's locks, which had fallen from her updo and streamed down her back. She swatted at him once more.

"Whatever," the Twilight Princess finally said. "I wanna go talk to Zelda."

"There's no need," a voice drifted towards the group from the staircase at the end of the hall. Zelda stood on the top step, dressed in a conservative blue dress. "I was just coming to get you all. We have business to discuss, and time is short." She walked-barefoot, Link noticed-to where the group stood.

"I'm glad you all made it back in one piece," she said, smiling warmly and nodding at the group. She squeezed Link's hand as she passed him. "I assume you have heard talk of my ill-fated Council meeting?"

Midna grinned. "I knew you had some spine. Way to show em.'"

Zelda smiled back. "Thank you. But, unfortunately, it is not so simple. While I would like to explain more and hear of what you found in your trip to Farorica Settlement, I have a very important military strategy meeting to get to."

"Not declaring war on us, are you, Princess Zelda?" Vaati asked, a smirk dancing upon his lips.

She shook her head. "I will explain more later, but again, I have to get to this meeting."

"Why is it so important? What meeting?" Link asked. He looked at Zelda. Her eyes were blue, but had the fierceness of ice, like blue ghosts dancing just under her eyelashes. It was the most determined, the most edgy, he had ever seen her.

Much to Link's surprise, Vaati pressed, "Is everything alright, Princess?" It didn't drip sarcasm, as his voice did when he spoke to Midna, but before Link could further analyze it, Zelda broke the anticipation.

"It is a military strategy meeting because tomorrow evening...we will be raiding a Rosulyla warehouse. Ganon himself will be there."

Silence dropped onto the group. "The head honcho?" Midna asked.

"The most powerful, most ruthless, most brutal, and most black-hearted mage that Hyrule has seen in hundreds of years. We have solid information and we could have a shot at capturing or..."

"Just kill him," Midna advised. "So much easier."

"Should it come to that, yes," Zelda said. "But the reason I'm telling _you _all this is that the soldiers that will be going on the raid, as well as myself, are quick-witted...but it still won't be a fair fight." She smiled wryly. "I am recruiting all four of you, my Twilit visitors, and Link, to join in on this raid. I suggest you brush up on material about the urban geography of the warehouse district, scout it, and do whatever you need to do to get ready."

A few beats of quiet weighed the air as Midna considered the entire ordeal.

"We're in."

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Because this story is in progress, feedback that anyone might have is important to us. In that same vein, who is your favorite character? What would you like to see in this fanfiction as it progresses? **


	18. Chapter 18

"This is boring," Vaati announced, leaning against a wall of an alley. They were on the northeastern side of town, travelling as inconspicuously as possible to avoid any Rosulyla confrontations. So far, they had been lucky, though as they went towards the most northeast point of Castle Town, the area became more and more industrial. The eastern side of the Castle grounds bordered the industrial warehouse district, home to the port that met the Zora river. Anything imported from the Zora Domain passed through there, but with shipments few and far between, the neighborhood seemed to house some of the worst poverty and seedy population Link had seen.

Link frowned as he caught his breath. They hadn't stopped walking since leaving the Castle earlier that morning, and they had taken the long way. "That's a good thing."

Midna laughed. "What, can't take the heat, Short Stuff?"

Literally speaking, it _was_ uncomfortably hot out; Link pursed his lips. "Apparently not."

Ghirahim, who had shed his heavy crimson cape, glowed like ice in the sun, with his pale bodysuit embezzled with a belt of red and gold diamonds gleaming like fire. In the shadows of the alley, it was duskier, almost emitting an otherworldly glow. He flicked his hand in distaste.

"So," he drawled, a smile dancing upon his lips and he caught Midna's glance. Deciding to irk her, he said, "_so _very interesting that our dearest Princess Zelda has put our lives on the line in her little wild goose chase, is it not?"

In the seconds it took Midna to come up with a calculated reply, he looked at her arms, the rivers of cyan streaking up them in luminescent shards, as if turquiose itself had turned to flames and licked her arms and shoulders, stopping just at her collar bones. He remembered being a spectator in that fight for the crown. He remembered so much-

_A blood-curdling scream rivets the crowd of thousands._

_Ghirahim has a front row seat. He wouldn't miss it for the world, of course, Midna's fight for the throne has been said to be the most highly anticipated for the next century. Her bloodline is strong, going back to one of the famous Twilight Queens in all of history, the one so strong that she herself had been said to shatter the Mirror of Twilight. They are acquaintances and he is fascinated by her, sitting in a closed-off spectator's platform reserved for VIP guests and reclining as he observes Midna._

_Unfortunately for him, the match has not even been in session for ten minutes and the scream that has the crowd in a frenzy was one of Midna's. Her opponent, Ral Ved, dressed in head-to-toe black metallic armor so that he looks like a vaulting pole, is striking black and blue lightning down from the heavens. Each bolt that hits Midna brings her closer to defeat. The spells are all, of course, non lethal, but Ghirahim knows Ral Ved's spells well enough to know that they are designed for pain and madness. By now, Midna's mind must be close to the brink of insanity. Dark blood spots her lips, he can see that. _

_Ral Ved is eleven years older than Midna and knows her weaknesses, her fears. Ghirahim must applaud his tactics, with a flare for dramatics that may have rivaled his own. Electricity, especially, is marvelous. He, even at sixteen, knows that it takes a certain talent to to come up with such artistic spells. _

_ Midna, he knows, has an affinity for fire, and has tamed it quite well. She is a flame thrower who can toss long-edged flames of black, cyan, and blue, to cause all the pain and destruction in the world. She's handy with other spells, too, mostly balls of energy and a little bit of talent in force fields. Still, her true domain is fire. _

_ Yet she has so far refused to use it in this fight. He wonders why. Honor is a foreign topic for him, a far off matter that only the weak reconcile with. He hadn't thought that Midna would consider honor in this duel for the Palace. How strange. _

_ She sends a little onyx particle ball towards Ral Ved-a knockback spell that he dodges easily, throwing another lightning bolt at her-_

_ Midna screams for all she is worth, again._

_ Ghirahim sighs, though he is entertained by the usually feisty girl's sudden lack of ferocity. Seeing her lose the throne position would be dreadful. He wishes she would stop controlling herself, to throw the nicey-nice antics out and just go wild. He longs for the smell of Ral Ved's armor melting and singing, to mangle him without killing him-_

_ Midna uses the fire, finally, erecting a tall cyan wall of flame around the area she's in. A defensive tactic? Ral Ved starts to send lightning down blindly, but it doesn't hit Midna. Still, she is beginning to spasm. Ghirahim is so close that he can see the wideness of her eyes as she fights for control over her body from the lightning spells that have hit too close to home. _

_ Ral Ved will break her barrier soon enough. She does not have much time._

What will you do? _Ghirahim thinks to himself. Through the madness on her face, he sees that Midna has begun to smile. An eerie laugh dances up from her mouth, to a startled audience, and she sprints towards the Capitol Sol, affixed to the ground just in front of the Palace._

No! _Ghirahim thinks. The crowd hushes as Midna lunges for the Sol, a giant orb of crystal light. The main source of power and light for the Capitol region, harboring such immense power that surely, it will kill her should she even manage to harvest it._

_ Midna closes her eyes and falls to the ground on her knees-the crowd gasps, does she intend to surrender?-hands flattened against the sphere, and begins to blaze with her own cyan flames. Her hair, the shade of blood, flies out as if blown by wind, and the Sol glows blinding bright-_

_ Ral Ved breaks through her barrier and sends a lightning bolt right at her. In the same instant, she screams so loud that Ghirahim covers his ears-and blinding light from the Sol dances around the flames she is bathing in, all over her body in streaks of cyan, lacerating her skin with holy power-_

_ Massive forks and fingers of flame-no, not flame, but something born of electricity, Sol light, and Midna's own fire-pummel Ral Ved, flying out in streaks from Midna's own body. His scream matches the strength of Midna's, but dies off quickly as he falls to his knees, armor dissolved into thousands of black particles, nude and defeated._

_ The crowd roars. _

_ Midna's black battle robe is torn and tattered, and from where her clothes are missing, rivets and scars of cyan dance over her skin from the use of the Sol. Dark droplets of blood fall delicately from her now outstretched hands._

_ But she has won, now, though Ghirahim won't be forgetting the sound of her victory-screaming and cackling of sparking flames._

Midna snapped her fingers in Ghirahim's face, smiling. "What happened to the oh-so-chivalrous Ghirahim we all know and love? Besides, it's called diplomacy. Tit for tat. This is why I'm a ruler and you're not. Besides, I'm all for an opportunity to duel."

He smiled back. "Your choice, dearest."

Vaati cleared his throat, a hand running across his pale ashen forehead. "So, Link, where did Zelda say that this warehouse raid is going to happen?"

Link coughed once, thinking back to the brief exchange. "She didn't say, she just said to scout the area. Maybe she was afraid we'd get too nosy and tip them off."

In his mind, he was remembering the first time he met Zelda, and her words: _whenever I authorize a raid on Ganon, something goes wrong...somebody dies. _An ominous feeling settled upon his chest and he looked at the group. Would it be one of them? Who could pay the price for disrupting the Rosulyla?

Zant materialized out of thin air, silently and suspiciously. "This raid will be at the warehouse that borders the main porthouse to the north."

Midna frowned. "How do you figure, Spooky?"

Zant had his own ways of knowing. As he spoke, he felt the bald streak on his head, remembered its significance, and remembered what he was searching for, longing for, almost mechanically so. _Destiny, _he thought to himself.

He pulled a cloak-one of the Rosulyla's-from his Shadow Storage. "There is a stash of these inside of it. It is safe to assume."

The Twilight Princess snatched it from him, looking at him oddly. "Stop wandering off by yourself."

"He won't do it again, Mom," Vaati snorted sarcastically. Link chortled.

"Mom is liable to light you on fire. Don't forget that, lovely," Midna said, sweetly so, batting her eyelashes. "Well, let's go...scout the area or whatever. And I guess we'll focus in on the warehouse Tall & Creepy is talking about." She gestured out of the alley. "Lead the way, Ghirahim. My orienteering skills are shoddy at best."

He bowed from the waist and they trudged down the nearly-deserted streets. Even in the height of the afternoon, it seemed as though they were abandoned, take aside a few panhandlers and shady-looking shopkeepers taking breaks from attending ramshackle businesses. A few people, walking in from the main porthouse, The Port of Hyrule Castle Town-the only building that looked as though it were stable, built of looming, dusty bricks, though its windows had holes in their glass-had works who were pushing wheelbarrows of putrid smelling fish, probably brought down from the Zora Domain.

The building to the north border of the looming Port was in existence due to nothing short of a miracle. It looked about ready to fall down, with a strange patchwork of wood, brick, and tin ore holding it together. The roof looked unstable and it looked like it had smoke damage. Its northernmost wall appeared to be leaning against the rampart that bordered Castle Town and the moat for support.

A very worn sign on the top of the building read _The Old Hylian Industrial House. _

"This place? How'd you get in, Zant?" Vaati asked, disbelief plain in his voice.

Zant nodded to the second story window, which was boarded over with some of the planks missing, creating an opening. A shaky looking windowsill-or a failed balcony addition, Link couldn't tell-was perched in the perfect place to climb into the window.

"How do we get up there?" Link asked, but then held up a hand, looking at the group. "Nevermind. Fancy magic stuff, I assume."

Midna smiled and dissolved into black particles, dancing up into the air and materializing again. She slid and quickly grabbed ahold of one of the rickety boards on the windowsill, a hiss resounding through her teeth. She, with all the grace of an elephant, rolled onto the sill's platform. Link snorted. She looked as though a Goron might if he were sitting on a pony. Midna swung her legs into the opening in the window and disappeared inside.

Zant, in his usual silent ways, flickered out of the air and came back into it on the window sill. He, too, ducked inside.

Vaati quickly looked at Ghirahm, who was standing with a demure, sly smile on his face. He looked at Link and sighed. _Better not leave the Advisor to Ghirahim, _he thought. Almost out of sympathy, he offered Link his hand. "Hold onto your hat, Link," he told him.

It felt as though a tornado-a wall of wind-hit Link in the side and spun him up. He found himself twisting back down and, with a heavy, unstable thud, landing on the narrow sill next to Vaati. His vision flipped and slid and his stomach churned. _Vaati must have a lot of practice to be so steady about it, _he thought, a silent note of admiration. He wondered, briefly, if he were truly an ally of Vaati, who had shown him the most comradery out of the entire Twilight group. He would hate to think that it was just an act.

Vaati crawled inside the window, with Link following shortly behind him, hearing Ghirahim snap his fingers and the clash as diamonds in the sky behind him. Link gained his footing inside the shabby warehouse, moving away from the window and having a look around.

It was dark, dank, and spacious. They were on the second story, where a loft was set up. Looked like an overseers' post at one point, with lots of dingy records books and a few masterboards of mechanical levers. The bottom floor looked more cluttered than he had expected, but the layout of the building was fairly simple.

Though with all the shelves of old goods, lifts, and mechanical contraptions that looked deadly to the touch, Link realized why it was such an opportune place for a raid. There were many places to hide, to ambush...

Though, as a soldier, it set off alarms in Link's head. It would be the perfect place to defend, too, to set a trap...chills ran down his spine as Midna leisurely dissolved into particles and reappeared, draping herself over the top of an industrial sized spinning wheel, seated on the bottom floor as some sort of power source, its crown and top point so tall that they were actually level with the loft.She yawned and leaned back on the bend of the wheel. "Well, this is fancy."

"It looks...dirty," Ghirahim muttered, a look of absolute disgust crossing his face as he sauntered over to the railing of the loft, observing the rest of the industrial house. "Surely, it is abandoned."

"Probably," Link said. "Considering it's boarded up and all."

Ghirahim shot him a look that would have made a flower wither. Link, not in the mood to play games, smiled back at him.

Midna slid down the wheel to the ground floor with a loud smack. "Alright, Zant," she called up. "Tell me where you found those overrated thug capes."

Ghirahim, Zant, and Link trudged down the rotting set of stairs carefully, making sure that it was not going to give out under their weight, and weaved their way over to Midna through the maze of rusty contraptions, tables that looked equipped as miniature blacksmith kits, and shelves of long-forgotten goods. The musky smell of the moat was strong in the air and Link wondered if the warehouse had been abandoned due to some kind of water-based rot.

Zant led the group to the far-corner of the warehouse, where old shipping crates were stacked next to a door. Link pushed on it and looked outside, where a rickety dock sat, connected to the river. He looked back in and shut the door, nodding at the group. "It's a dock. Probably where some of the participants in any meetings here come in. Easy to get away."

"Can you even swim in the water out there?" Vaati asked, skeptically, having looked over Link's shoulder.

Link snorted. "Yes. Trust me, you can."

He made a face.

Midna tossed the lid off of one of the crates and yanked a cloak up from the inside. "Sure enough," she muttered, tossing it back in. She turned to the group. "Alright, what now? Why are they dumping their uniforms here?"

"Convenience," Zant suggested, quietly.

"Wearing them is convenient. Throwing them in warehouses to wait for a raid? Not so much. No, something about this is fishy."

Ghirahim took a look around and sighed loudly. He gestured to the crates full of cloaks. "There is a distinct...smell to those cloaks. Alike to ashes, electricity...it would be fair to assume that these aren't just any ratty old cloaks." He snapped his fingers and slid the lid back off the crate, whirling his fingers and commanding a cloak to land in Midna's arms. She smelled it and frowned. "I would think that if they were truly turning these into mage's armor, they would have improved the design."

"Think they're onto Zelda's raid, then?"

"Possibly, or perhaps they're putting this dreadful old building to use as training grounds or a meeting place. No matter." He turned to Link. "I'm well aware that my companions can fight. But can you?"

Link snorted, though his cheeks flushed. "Yes, I can fight. You've _seen _me fight."

Ghirahim laughed. "That day in the square? The time in the forest? Boy, dearest little Advisor, that wasn't _fighting. _That was swinging a sword around and looking confused. Valiant, but not strategic." His voice was thick with bitterness, sharper than any blade Link had cut himself on before.

"Lay off the kid, Ghirahim," Midna said.

"He would be collateral damage if he were to be slaughtered," Ghirahim pointed out, toying with a few strands of his hair. "I'm just curious as to if he can fight off mages who are wearing enchanted cloaks."

"He can do it," Vaati announced. Ghirahim raised his eyebrows. "And I'll help him."

Midna frowned. "Short Stuff can take care of himself. He's our good-luck charm and doesn't need a babysitter. Lay off, Demon Lord Sadistic. I'm sure that Zelda is going to bring along some friends or bodyguards, too. I'm not too concerned."

Ghirahim lazily shrugged. "As you wish, dearest."

She smiled and turned to Link. "Speaking of Zelda, we need to fill her in on our little vacation to the middle of nowhere."

Vaati groaned. "No more debriefs."

"I didn't say _you, _Gusty. I said _we. _Link and I can do it. Ghirahim, be a _dear _and babysit Zant and Vaati for us?"

Ghirahim made a face, part offended, part seething, part dread.

Midna grinned. "Good boy. We'll meet you all back at the Castle later. Probably more inconspicuous to split up at this point, anywho." She turned to Link and put her hand on his shoulder, suddenly not in the mood for conversation with the rest of the group."Let's go out on that dock and see if I know this town well enough to warp us back to the Castle. Otherwise, Short Stuff, I hope you were right about being able to swim in the moat."

She opened the door to the shaky dock and looked back at Ghirahim, Zant, and Vaati. "Play nice," she winked. Link didn't understand her sudden urgency to get away from the group, but he saw the snarl on Ghirahim's lips and the warning in Vaati's eyes and wasn't about to start asking questions. Outside, in the hot, swampy air, Midna squeezed his shoulder and he vanished into a current of black particles, shooting up to the sky.

/\

They ended up re emerging from the sky just near the entrance to the Castle-past the gates, but not to the main courtyard as of yet. Take aside a few guards up on the ramparts, nobody was around to see Link and Midna materialize out of black shards in the air.

"Not bad," Link smiled, regaining his footing and bracing himself against the wall as he regained his sense of gravity. "But I'll never get used to warping."

"Aww, poor boy," Midna smiled, stretching her arms, having landed on her feet perfectly. "What, do you prefer gusting around on trade winds with Vaati? Can't run with the big leagues?"

Link snorted. "Please."

Midna rolled her eyes and started walking the path to the Courtyard, as though it were the most natural thing she had ever done, a daily ritual of sorts. Link looked on at her, bemused, and she turned back around when she noticed he had fallen behind. "Stop gawking and come on, Short Stuff."

The two entering the courtyard attracted a few stares, with Castle servants pruning shrubs and a few politicians, Advisors, and other royal businessfolk enjoying the sunshine outside looking at the spectacle. Nobody asked questions, though. Link tried to imagine what _he _would think if he didn't know that Midna and her group were from the Twilight Realm. Surely, he'd think they were foreigners, here on official business. . .but how would one approach that? No wonder nobody asked questions. There was nothing to do _but _gawk.

"You look like you're using that little brain of yours mighty hard," Midna noted, glancing at Link from the corner of her eye as they entered the grand parlor of the Castle and turned down the hallway. "Are you going to keep me in suspense?" Her tone was dry.

"It's nothing," he said.

"Mhm."

"Just thinking about how weird you look," he blurted as they reached the spiral staircase that would eventually lead to Zelda's quarters.

Midna frowned and raised a hand to her temple, giving him a wry look. Link blushed bright red.

"That came out wrong," he sighed. "I don't think you look weird."

"Right," she grinned, cheeks heating in a wicked smirk. "What _do _men who have taken vows of chastity think of beautiful Twilight princesses?"

Link paled at the memory of his hasty lie in the bar. _Thanks, Vaati, _he thought to himself, throwing the blame on the wind mage and stopping the train of thought completely. Why was it such an embarrassment to him? Was it Ghirahim's almost...obsessive presence over Midna that set Link off?

Midna had stopped on the staircase was observing Link, eyebrows raised, arms crossed over her chest.

"I don't know," he said, shortly. A smirk that almost matched Midna's flashed across his lips. "Maybe you should ask one."

The Twilight Princess laughed heartily and continued up the stairs, till the third floor. "Clever," she giggled, effortlessly hopping off the stairs and walking down the hall.

The guards at Zelda's door immediately stepped aside and let Link and Midna in. Zelda was just setting a scroll down on her desk and she jumped, startled at the sudden entrance.

"Where did the rest of the group go?" she asked.

Midna shrugged, lifting one shoulder rather uncaringly. "Ditched em. We're here to share our amazing fun adventure down in the boonies of your Kingdom. Oh, by the way, just so I can smack myself upside the head a little more, what is the name of the warehouse we're raiding?"

"The Old Hylian Industrial House," Zelda rattled off. "Did you scout the area?"

"Better yet, we went inside the warehouse," Link told her. "Midna and Ghirahim found a stash of...enchanted?...cloaks."

Zelda sighed. "Resistant to only magic, or resistant to both combat and magic?" she asked Midna.

Midna chewed her lip. "Probably both. Resistant, though. Nothing is foolproof. We'll just have to come in and bring some hellfire with us." The idea of hellfire didn't seem to deter or scare Midna in the slightest. "Quick question, though. What are they going to be doing in that dump? It's a weird area...place smells funky..."

The Princess of Hyrule exhaled through her teeth. "Occasionally, the Rosulyla will stash various weaponry and supplies in the warehouse. We have information stating that they will be doing that tonight...in addition to holding a, oh...pep rally, of sorts. Ganon will be there. You can see the importance to us attempting to capture him."

"Are you bringing anybody else?"

"Yes. My military Commander, Ralis, and a few soldiers who have volunteered for a training exercise."

"Do you make a habit of lying to soldiers?" Link bluntly asked, a sort of betrayal prominent in his tone. He instantly snapped his mouth shut, feeling as though he made a huge blunder. Midna looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"They're just soldiers," Midna said, slowly. Link, having realized his narrow-slip-up, knew she was baiting him for information and held his cool. Zelda gave him a very purposeful look.

Taking a deep breath, Link flipped his palms up. "I didn't mean to sound so rude. I just want to make sure that if things go bad, anybody who is coming, soldiers included, will be prepared."

With a sigh, Zelda looked at Link and smiled, gently, kindly. It held an apology for him, he could tell. "They will be prepared."

Shakily, Link nodded. "Good to hear." He coughed. "Anyway, Princess. It looked like the Rosulyla were trying to set up establishment in Farorica Settlement, cut it off, use the land for whatever purpose. There were a few mages wrecking havoc, sending out monsters, mostly petty stuff. We got close to their hideout, but...it looks to us like they committed suicide to avoid being captured."

"Set themselves on fire," Midna clarified, flopping down on Zelda's bed and propping herself up on her elbows. "They _definitely _committed suicide."

Zelda frowned, heavily, and leaned back against her study chair. "I was hoping for better news." She traced circles on her temples, biting her lip, clearly frustrated.

"I'm not an expert on the Rosulyla like you are," Link said, standing stiffly, unlike the two women in the room. "But it sure looks like they're up to trouble outside of Castle Town. Trying to suffocate Hyrule. But I'm not clear on their motivation."

"World domination?" Midna asked.

Zelda nodded. "Possibly. But, like you, Link, I'm not an expert on their motivations. I do, however, know that whatever they are up to will have serious consequences if we do not put an end to their terror. Perhaps we will find out tonight, when we capture Ganon and try him for his crimes against his country."

Midna grinned. "I like that train of thought."

The Princess of Hyrule raised a hand and smiled back at Midna. "I won't have any of you getting yourselves killed. Go, rest, eat, drink. Be back here much later this evening and we will head out together."

"Whatever you say," Midna said.

/\\

It was much later, the sun having fallen down past the earth hours ago, the darkness of night having already settled upon Hyrule Castle Town. Most of the citizens were undoubtedly in bed, already, candles out and doors locked.

Zelda affixed the heavy chainmail over her torso, taking care that the skin beneath was covered by the thin linen shirt and trousers that were meant to protect from painful indentations of the metal on her lithe body. Her servant stood next to her, staring blankly at the breastplate that she held out to her Princess, the weight heavy in her hands and heart.

"Thank you, Rose," Zelda said quietly, taking the ornate piece of metal, made customly in a hurry two days previous. It shone almost gold in the candlelight, with delicate embossing and gilding that depicted legends of old. As she studied the decorations, she donned more armor. She had requested one designs on it-though she didn't care for the ornate decorative aspects, even Ralis had suggested armor that differentiated her from the soldiers that would be accompanying them.

The scene was a common one, of the three Golden Goddesses creating the land. Din, tall and fiery and beautiful, was depicted at the top, rising above the land with her hands outstretched, holding a flame in each palm. On her left stood Nayru, atop a mountain peak, shown in realistic features with a similar pose, her left hand holding a scale and water dripping from the fingers of the other. On her right was Farore, seated upon a tree branch of a redwood tree that spiraled upwards to the shoulder plate of the armor, fingers pointed downwards towards the lower part of the scene, where Hylians kneeled around the floating Triangles known as the Triforce. Very lightly, another figure was embossed between the Three, her eyes shut and her body nondescript, only there to hold the place of Hylia, the barely known embodiment of the Golden Ones.

"Your Highness?"

The words, a rarity amongst honorary titles afforded to the Princess, stirred another horrible feeling of deja vu within her. Turning her head to gaze upon the young woman who was holding out the last items, Zelda smiled softly, gently, the sad look reaching Rose, who returned it with one of her own.

"Yes, Rose?"

"Your sword and shield, Your Highness," she responded, handing her a long rapier with a thin point, shiny and tall with a riveted hilt that fit her gauntlet's pattern for a better grip. The shield was smaller than a soldier's, in the same style as her armor, with one large and intricate Hylian Crest on the front. Zelda took them both, placing the sheath in its space at her waist and taking the sword out, its blade throwing gold reflections onto the floor of her dressing room. She held it and her shield at her side and looked in the tall mirror at her side.

Tall, thin, and in full armor, the Princess resembled a perfect statue of the fighting Goddess Hylia, during her intervention against Demise, unspeakable numbers of years ago. The horrible, detestable, deadly feeling of having done this many, many times before filled her, making her limbs tremble and her eyes fill with unexplainable tears. She sheathed her rapier and put a metal covered hand on her chin, trying to reconcile her emotions.

She had felt this many times, the feeling that she had already done this, that it had not been enough then and wouldn't be enough now. She felt old, so very old, and alone. The metal on her body was not nearly as heavy as the burden she carried daily, the conflicting memories-rather, shards of memories-that collided with her nighttime studies of history, and the understanding that until Ganondorf was dead, nothing in her life would be permanent. Briefly, she felt the burning sense of the unfairness of it all.

It was rare for her to feel the loss of those she had once loved, but standing in her castle, donning armor in preparation of such an intense mission-one that could end such incredible terror that she and many others dealt with-she felt each one of them, as though they were laying on the wooden floor next to her, their final breaths leaving them, bodies still warm. Her breath caught in her throat, a gasp at her lips, and she blinked, the image gone, hollowness replacing it. In that hollowness came a pulsating beat, strong and steady, and she breathed once more.

A knock came at the door.

Rose gathered the case that the armor had come in and gently asked, "Where should I put this, M'lady?"

"Leave it on the bed, please. I will be back in the morning. Thank you for your help."

Rose nodded and walked away, leaving the door from her bedroom open so that her visitor could enter the dressing room. In the darkness, she did not see the bizarre features of her Twilit comrades.

"Armor is too much of a burden," Vaati was saying, seemingly talking to Link, who had added shoulder plates and more mail to his tunic. "It only slows you down, in the long run."

"That's easy to say, when you can just 'poof' out of harm's way."

Midna laughed, and the group entered the dressing room. They did not pick up on the solemn tone of the room, and smiled, seemingly excited. "We're ready, Zelda," Link said, a laugh still in his voice. Zelda turned and gave a small grin at the group, looking far more usual than she did. They took in the armor in mostly the same way, all quieting in amazement-either at her audacity or stupidity, she couldn't tell.

The Twilight Princess, however, broke the tension and came to stand next to her, conjuring up a heavy glowing sword and shield and shadowy plate armor in the same style as Zelda's. "I never get that kind of respect," she pouted, and then the weaponry and armor faded, smiles replacing it in the candlelit room. "Whatever. Short Stuff is right. I can 'poof' out of the way."

Zelda exhaled, outstretching her arms. "It's ten thirty. The chariots leave the castle at eleven. Shall we go?"

"Are we to go without an element of surprise, with loud cries of animals to announce our approach?" Ghirahim inquired, his appearance unchanged. He narrowed his eyes at the Princess of Light, seeming to feel an unexplained resentment towards her. His nostrils flared, and Midna gave him a strange look.

"Pretty sure Zelda's armor is going to be loud anyway," she joked. "Scared, Ghirahim?"

He rolled his eyes, but didn't reply. Something was feeding the fire that burned viciously inside of him.

The group shuffled out of the bedroom, and Zelda lingered for just a moment, staring out the window at the small sliver of a moon in the sky. A whisper of wind flicked a strand of hair from her braid into her face, and she turned her head to see Vaati, propped up against the wall next to her.

"What are you doing this for? The show, the big risk...what's it about?"

The feeling returned, a steady beat inside of her, and she turned to face him.

"For Hyrule."

/\\\

**Phew! That was a very, very long chapter and we had a lot of ground to cover with it. There just wasn't a good place to break it up without simply ruining the next chapter. In addition, as the semester goes on, we might find ourselves swamped for three weeks and free for the next two, so writing might be sporadic. **

**Either way, happy Labor Day to all!**


	19. Chapter 19

The air was stifling.

Even with a breeze that carried notes of ice on its tail, the air outside the three chariots drawn by midnight-black horses, was hot like smoke and lava. It got caught in Link's lungs as he tried to remain stable in the bumpy carriage. He hadn't thought to be nervous-though this was his first true battle.

Ralis and five soldiers were in the secondary chariot, with Ghirahim and Zant in the very last one that was cramped with extra weaponry. Link, Midna, Vaati, and Zelda were in the leading chariot, of course. For one reason or another, it had been decided that they were the star power of the operation.

A turn in the narrow road sent Link smashing into Vaati's shoulder. "Sorry," he hissed, through clenched teeth. He could _feel _the darkness outside, the darkness of the night, the thickness of the air, the ominous and almost invisible ticking of clock. Closer and closer to midnight.

Midnight, midnight, midnight. It was everywhere.

Zelda flipped open a golden pocket watch. "We're right on schedule. It's eleven fifty."

They had been taking the backroads, all through town, to deter anybody who was still awake from following them or speculating on their destination. With the darkness outside, he wondered if anyone could see the dark profiles of the chariots, and what they would think if they had.

So, they must be getting close.

"Calm down," Vaati muttered to Link. "A dead Advisor isn't any good to us."

Midna smirked across at Link, while Zelda sat very still, as if in...

"Are you praying?" Link blurted. His heart thrummed. Silence. Tick, tock.

Vaati and Midna, both apparently foreign to prayer, looked at Zelda, who opened one eye and smiled softly. "Yes. To Farore, mostly, for courage. To Din, for the power to capture Ganon. And, of course, Nayru, for the wisdom to make the right decisions when it comes down to it. And...Hylia. Asking for her blessing to keep us all safe and sound." Then, as if adding on an extra thought, she said, "please, give me your hands."

Midna and Link both immediately gave Zelda their hands, though the Twilight Princess had a wry smile on her face, and Vaati scowled. Link shouldered him and with a reluctant sigh, the wind mage extended his fingers to Zelda.

Link felt as though he could not breathe as Zelda started to speak, softly, her voice vibrating as the carriage went over bumps in the cobblestone roads. Her words, though, they held power. It was tangible, a buzzing in the air, a thin fog that settled over the group. "Our patron Goddesses, we ask for you to lend us your help in the task that we now face. May we have the courage of Farore. The power of Din. The wisdom of Nayru. And may Her Grace Hylia the Highest grant us her blessing, so that we may take life cleanly and give death mercifully. May you grant us all Light to cut through Darkness, and to restore harmony to your wonderful lands that we roam."

There was silence and Zelda released everybody's hands from her grasp. Satisfied, she took a deep gulp of air. Midna, as usual, was the first to speak. "You don't think Vaati and I jinxed that, do ya?"

Zelda laughed and shook her head. "Not in the least. The Goddesses favor you. You are here by fate."

Midna snorted. "Sure."

The carriage halted suddenly, a sharp force that sent the group jolting forward. All mirth and laughter was immediately extinguished.

"Let's do this," Midna said, a deadly smile crossing her lips.

The door flew open and a man in stealthy silver armor-a soldier-quickly ushered Zelda out. She jerked her head, signaling for silence, and Vaati jumped out into the darkness next. Link stood to get out, but Midna put a quick hand on his wrist.

She was dressed in an all black body suit that went up to her neck, down to her wrists and ankles, making her almost indistinguishable from the onyx atmosphere, a shimmer of tight leather but nothing more. It covered her glowing scars-that, Link knew, was why she had chosen it. But her eyes still blazed of fire, glimmering ever so slightly in the dark. "Hey, Short Stuff. Do me a favor and kick some serious ass. I don't want to hear Ghirahim say _I told you so._"

He smiled. "Can do."

She shoved him out the door and landed on light footfall behind him, shutting the carriage behind her.

Midnight.

/\\

The three carriages had separated and come in from three different angles-Ralis and the soldiers had come in from an alley across from the Industrial House, Zelda's had come in from the south, and Zant's had come in from the north. Silently, the groups all approached each other, motioning to each other to indicate where to enter and where to go.

Inside the Old Hylian Industrial House, they heard loud voices and lots of heavy movement.

"Tonight, fair men, we take a stand."

The voice from inside, booming louder than any other in the building, sent shivers down Link's spine. He looked across to Zelda in the dark of night, and the way her jaw was locked told him all he needed to know. Ganon was speaking.

The calamity inside had covered their entrance, though.

Midna jerked her head to Ghirahim and Zant, gracefully flipping over to them and motioning up to the second story window. They nodded and joined hands. Zelda stood next to Ralis, who was cloaked in heavy scale armor, and a group of five soldiers. The Princess unsheathed her blade and pointed at the door, holding up a fist to count down.

Vaati yanked Link aside. "That means we're on covering the back door. Hang on," he whispered, gusting the two instantly onto the roof. Link landed on his feet, gravity intact, and the two of them-no longer able to see the rest of the group, but the countdown almost in sync with their heartbeats-ran across the roof silently and dropped down to the dock-

A loud _bang _echoed onto their side of the building and Link heard the commotion change from cries of agreement to whatever Ganon was proclaiming to loud cries of war. Knowing that seconds counted-

"Cover me once we're in. I need an opening," Link muttered, breathless.

_One, two, three-_

Link smashed his foot into the shabby dock door and it flung open with enough force to rebound. He shouldered through and Vaati immediately threw his hands up, sending a wall of air into the space in front of them in the warehouse. Only two Rosulyla were even by the door anymore-the rest had run further inside-and their cloaks suddenly glowed luminescent. They yanked themselves up off the ground, cloaks returning to blackness.

"Their cloaks are enchanted! We have to tag team them to get anywhere!" Vaati yelled. It sounded like a whisper in the chaos of sound. Link, in one smooth movement, unsheathed his sword and bashed it against the chest of the Rosulyla on the left. It was as though he hit chainmail-he bounced back into Vaati. "I'll get them on the ground! Hit them before their cloaks-!"

He threw his hands out and knocked the two Rosulyla back to the floor. Link, his soldier mentality having completely taken over-human feelings were irrelevant- quickly slashed downwards. Blood splashed the blade and a howl escaped the lips of one of them. Link stabbed down again, once, twice, three times, just making sure-

"_And to give death mercifully-"_

Vaati grabbed Link's free arm. "They're dead! Let's go!'

The center of the crowd was a mad mob of Rosulyla, all circled around a hulking man with hair the strangest orange Link had ever seen, eyes like blood, skin dark, wearing armor as black as the night itself. Link only caught a glimpse, though, as the crowd surged once more-

Zelda and Ralis, back to back, swung swords, crossguards locked with two members of the Rosulyla-

Midna, Ghirahim, and Zant, covering as much ground as they could, zipping back and forth over the separate stories, flying through the air like acrobats, having to put much more effort into their spells to destroy the enchanted armor-

The Rosulyla who weren't being attacked were ripping the armor off of the soldiers-dead or alive, Link could not tell-, handing the bodies off, deeper into the tempest of a crowd, madness _everywhere, _blood _everywhere, _and, above anything, the massive glows of Midna's flames.

He knew what singed flesh smelled like, then, in that moment. Link's stomach rolled, and he nudged Vaati as his eyes stared past all the horror and saw the slaughter that was about to occur. The soldiers. Of course. They were expendable to both sides-

"We're going for Ganon!" He screamed at Vaati. "He's going to kill the soldiers and then head for Zelda!"

Vaati didn't need more than that. He stayed at Link's side as they charged ahead into the crowd, and, much like a conductor would, raised his hands. A wall of wind slammed down on the mob, parting a gorge for Link. He swung in his sword in a circle above his head, sprinting, sprinting-

He slid on the floor and, sickeningly, realized that he had slipped in blood. A club came down on his head, _hard-_

"Dammit, Short Stuff, don't make me be the hero today!" Midna yelled, flashing to his side in a sharp hail of black rain. She swung her hands out and made contact with the burly, short man who had struck Link. As she touched him, cyan flames erupted from her hands and the man fell into nothing but ashes.

Midna threw her hands to the floor and a circle of glowing red spread out for about fifteen feet, encompassing many of the Rosulyla converging on them. She smashed her fist to the floor and the field burst, like a bubble, and sparks of orange reigned down, knocking everybody in the vicinity to the ground. "_Go!_" She yelled, shoving Link forward. He did not have enough time to even feel the pain from the club, seconds ago, having smashed into his temple, because-

Just ahead, just past a few bodies, he saw the most frightening things, the basis for all nightmares and all fears in the entire world; Ganon, amiss a pile of chrome clad bodies- and in seconds, the one soldier he had in his grasp was headless.

Zelda, whose blade had become lost in the mess, was grabbed and tossed to _his _grasp-

Link made eye contact with Ralis, who was then back to back with Zant, and had no more time to think, no time to fear the consequences from what he was about to do, no time for _fear_-

Link lunged forward and bashed his sword into Ganon's side, a flurry of motion and harshness, with all the force he could. The man was easily three times Link's size, but he was knocked back, with Zelda free from his grasp. She sharply turned, grabbed her blade from the floor, and threw it against another one, another Rosulyla, when did it end, oh, Goddesses, when would it _end?_

Link had bigger problems.

He was now face to face with Ganon.

And he thought the night outside had been dark. Dark was nothing. There _was _no darkness standing next to Ganon, who would have made a moonless night look sunny. _Fear. _It rolled off of him and choked into Link's throat. With a huge breath, he braced himself upon the slick and cold floor-

He raised his blade.

"The Advisor in Green," the man bellowed, a sickening smile spreading across his face. He raised his own blade, a broadsword easily as wide as he was, and Link ducked low, barely missing a strike that would have sent him into the pile of headless bodies behind him.

Midna, barely two yards away and lighting scores of Rosulyla on fire-easily one of the most violent things she had ever done-backed into Ghirahim. "Help Link," she yelled, sending cyan flames spinning as she noticed the tango between Ganon and the Advisor.

"The Advisor is _fine, _or didn't you say he could fight?" Ghirahim challenged, lazily sending out a rain storm of cutting diamonds, frowning when a little blood splashed on his bodysuit.

"No need!" Vaati yelled, gusting past Midna and knocking Link to the side, grabbing the Advisor and skating through the air, away from Ganon, who whipped around in confusion.

"Damn it, Vaati, we need _him!" _Link cried as he slammed into one of the machines with Vaati, away from the dark leader of the Rosulyla.

"There's no way in hell we take him down tonight! Pick somebody else!" Vaati, who, though frenzied, was remarkably composed, sent another spell around them, clearing the way and zipping them to Zelda. He sent a blade that was coming straight for her flying. "Princess! This isn't going so well! Who else can we grab?"

"The man-" she shrieked, deflecting a blade with her own, "next to him! In the all red cloak! That's his number two!"

"We're outnumbered and even with the help of the Twilis, we'll be overpowered," Ralis shouted, bringing a blade against a thinner Rosulyla and sending more blood spurting. "Get his second in command and we'll meet back at the Castle!"

"No," Zelda protested. A blade clanged off of her armor, sending hard vibrations through her body.

Link met a club coming down at him, splitting it in half and driving his blade into the stomach of another hulking thief. He backed into Vaati and jerked his head at Ralis. "Commander Ralis is right. They want the Princess. Vaati, take Zelda and Ralis and _go!_"

"Over my _dead body_-"

Vaati threw his hand back and gusted Zelda and Ralis back to the front door, out of the mob. "I'll get you to Midna. Get out of this mess alive or all that work I did making sure Ghirahim didn't kill you will be for nothing." He waved his fingers and sent Link flying through the crowd on a harsh tornado, knocking over the fringe of Rosulyla and slamming into Midna.

Zant flashed to his side and clawed the air around him, leaving silver lines sharper than any blade as a barrier of where he traced.

"New plan! We're getting out! I need the guy in red next to Ganon!" Link shouted, spinning his blade and knocking back two Rosulyla who had lunged towards him.

"Ghirahim, with me and Link! Tall & Creepy, cover us!" Midna commanded. Zant spun in a circle, maddeningly fast, fingers extended, sending spells like knives, keeping the thugs around them at bay. Ghirahim, spewing diamonds, Midna, expelling flames, ran with Link.

"Hey, ugly!" Midna yelled, sending a ball of onyx flames right at Ganon as Ghirahim staved off the Rosulyla around him. Link rolled to the side and kicked just below the knee of the man in red, bringing his sword down on his thigh in a simultaneous movement. He grabbed him by his collar and Ghirahim flashed to his side.

"Get him to the Castle! Midna, Zant and I will be right behind you!" Link pleaded, shoving the flailing man towards Ghirahim, who made a distasteful face. "No time to argue! Please!" Link shouted. With a sigh, Ghirahim snapped his fingers and levitated the man in red, sending him flying up into the air and presumably out the window. He followed with another snap, but not before giving Link an angry glance-

Link rolled, again, and came up on Midna's side. He quickly saw the direction that Ganon, the man of all terror, was bringing his sword-not the broadsword, now, but a hooked blade as long as Link was tall and glowing with some kind of dark enchantment-

Link shoved Midna out of the way, which took all of his effort, not any momentum left to get out of the way-

A sickening _crunch _and an odd tickling sensation came, quick as a flash, but Link felt the rip as Ganon pulled the blade out of Link's shoulder and grabbed him by the neck. "Just a boy, nothing more. She must be running out of options if she chose _you." _Ganon threw his head back and laughed as Link screamed in agony.

Midna appeared out of thin air, literally, coming down with a kick on top of Ganon, in between Link and the man, knocking them both back. Zant twirled more designs around them.

"Thanks for saving me, Short Stuff, but look what you did," she shook her head and dragged him to his feet. "Zant! Hurry! This way!"

Among the masses of bodies and blood and gore, and horror, darkness, _ringing _in Link's ears, his heart wrenched as he saw the many bloodthirsty Rosulyla encircling him, Midna, and Zant. There was no way that they would get out of it. Link felt blood wetting the front of his tunic and he moaned in pain, the stab wound feeling as though somebody had dumped salt on a cut, times one thousand-

"Go," Zant whispered, feather light. "I shall stay."

"Are you _insane?!_" Midna yelled. "I mean, I know you are-"

"_Go!_" He shouted. This time, it was a laugh. Manic. He twirled and sent razors flying through the air like arrows, in all directions, knocking many Rosulyla to the ground, _but seconds counted-_

With no time but to accept the apparent sacrifice, Midna took the distraction of his razors as an opportunity. She grabbed Link's arm and sprinted over the bodies and the Rosulyla regaining their footing, to the back door of the warehouse that was still flung open. Heavy footfall followed them, but there was enough safety in their distance. She squeezed Link's hand and they flashed, breaking them apart into a billion different pieces of black rain, flying away from the terror and all the way through the night sky that was _so thick_, but not dark, Link _knew _darkness now-

They spilled down and rejoined, just at the courtyard of the Castle. Link was unstable and slammed into a bush. Midna yanked him out by the collar.

His jaw was locked so tightly that moving it would have broken teeth. Midna looked at him with sympathy, pity, humor, and horror. His head was bleeding from the hit from the club, but it was his shoulder that looked the worst-from when he had shoved her out of the way. It was a gaping hole. The way he was holding himself told her that his collarbone had been snapped from the force of the stab, too. He was pale, lips trembling.

"That was pretty bad," she said, all traces of humor gone from her voice. Her eyes-flames, like the flames that had been the death of many tonight-burned with gloss. Tears? Link couldn't tell. His own vision was blurring in and out of focus.

He heard the snap of diamonds nearby, his ears ringing from the otherwise silence. He wondered if he would ever hear right again...see right again...feel right again-

"Did we get his right hand man?" Link whispered. The shock was wearing off, the horrors of what had just happened coming back to him. He knew he would be dipped in chaos soon enough, probably in hysterics. Better to find out the good news now.

"He's safely in the custody of Vaati and Zelda, who are apparently infuriated with each other," Ghirahim noted, sounding bored. Blood stained his white outfit, making Link nasueous yet again.

Midna hissed. "Hear that, Short Stuff? That wasn't all for nothing. Short Stuff?"

But it had cost so much. So...nearly everything. Link felt as though his _soul _had been stabbed, not his shoulder.

_ "-so that we may take life cleanly and give death mercifully-"_

"Ugh, don't pass out on me," Midna warned. But it was much too late. Link could feel the barrage of gore sending him into unconsciousness.

"_May you grant us all Light to cut through Darkness-"_

Onyx, not darkness-not true darkness-washed over him, a mercy at last.

**Fight scenes are so very hard to write, especially trying to communicate calamity and mass panic, like what happened in this chapter. Nevertheless, as you can probably tell, this was a very, very important chapter that will lay some serious groundwork out for the rest of the fic! This is not the climax of the fic, either. Surprisingly, this will turn out to be a moderately long fic, perhaps around 45 chapters.**

**As the fight scene **_**was **_**quite hard to write, please let us know what you think! We so appreciate all the feedback and views that we have gotten!**


	20. Chapter 20

Link's head was swimming, hearing restored but still in the realm of sleep, his body unmoving and eyes still closed. He preferred it that way, for the moment. He felt distant pain, throbbing in his head and his shoulder, chest...he was in for a huge wave of pain when he fully came to. He stayed put, then, in a realm much more peaceful, and listened to whatever was around him.

"But you're ignoring the fact that the kid shoved _me _out of the way," Midna said. "I think he held his own. Not a half bad swordsman, after all."

Somebody made a sound that sounded like a _tsk, tsk. _Probably Ghirahim. "Hmph. He's still unconscious, dearest, and how weak must one be to be driven to that point with just two minor wounds? Not strong at all. Even granting that his swordsmanship was decent, which would be a gracious stretch, his actual ability to _stand up _for a fight is dreadfully low."

Midna snorted. "Cut it out. His wounds are more than _minor, _number one. Number two, Mr. I-Flinch-When-I-Get-Blood-On-Me, do you think he's ever seen something that bad? Been in something that bad? Even _you _have to admit that it was a bloodfest back there."

Ghirahim sounded like he sighed, but dropped his voice. "Nevermind that. Did that pompous thug confess anything to our dearest Princess Zelda, yet?"

"Nope. His lips are sealed. Which is too bad. It's dawn, now, so I'm sure some poor merchant is going to stumble onto the bloodbath. They're bracing for a huge PR pissing match, lots of questions, accusations flying...town's gonna be a mess," Midna muttered. "Can't help but feel bad for Zelda...and Short Stuff."

"If it really is so bad, we cannot afford to wait around for the Advisor to lick his wounds like a sad dog."

It sounded like Midna kicked Ghirahim. "Get out of here, Ghirahim. Go do something useful, or I'll make _you_ go retrieve Zant's body from that mess."

"Spectacular failure," he sneered, though his voice grew faint in the distance. "Lost a member of our little adventure party." It sounded as though he chuckled, and then, the door shut.

"Yeah, screw you, too, buddy," Midna muttered. Link heard her yawn.

Finally, sensation returned to his body, and with it, intense jabs of pain. Link gasped and scrunched up his face, agony having returned as soon as he was fully aware. His eyes shot open and he saw that he was in his suite, curtains drawn, revealing the light of dawn peaking through the thick panels.

Midna frowned, draping herself over his bed with a small container of bandages and a jar of a thick red liquid. "You passed out on me," she said, shortly, voice flat. "Whatever. You're only human. Think you can apply this salve, or should I baby you?"

He reached for the jar, but immediately fell back to the bed, dizzy.

"Great. Babysitting," Midna sighed. She reached for Link and pulled the bandages that had been criss-crossed over his shoulder and back off. Link didn't bother to look at the wound. Midna smeared some of the thick red liquid over it and he exhaled, surprised at the sudden relief, soaking all the way to his core. Link, with his head clear of some of the pain, looked down. He had trousers on, covers thrown off , tunic and undershirt nowhere to be seen.

Midna rolled her eyes at his expression. "Oh, great. You're going to act modest now. You know I had to wash your tunic out for you? It was gross. You're welcome, though. Ghirahim wouldn't touch you because he's pretentious, Vaati is with Zelda and Ralis...so that leaves me to clean you up." She shoved a cloth bandage under his arm and crossed it over, tying it tightly over the newly washed wound. "Your head bled a lot, but since that looks like it sealed up, that should be okay. You okay, Short Stuff?"

He thought about it for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice came out rough with horror. "I'm not sure."

"Before you beat yourself up for being a sissy, you should know that I've seen a lot of bad battles, but last night was gruesome...I had no idea that this Ganon guy was so rough."

Link thought of it some more, the blood, the fighting, the bodies, the darkness. It left a vile taste in his mouth. "It was awful. But...I think I'm still in shock. Might as well take advantage of that for now."

She nodded. "Some people are like that, where the horror only comes back to haunt them when they're asleep. Which isn't much better, but at least..." Midna sighed. "At least you're still alive, right?"

"I'm so sorry about Zant..." he muttered. "I mean...I didn't know him much. And you didn't seem to, either, but still, he was one of your subjects and-"

Midna cut him off. "Yeah, yeah. I appreciate his sacrifice. I don't need any condolences, though."

"Has the man we captured talked?"

"No."

Link frowned. "Help me up. Zelda will be questioned and the other Councilmen are looking for a chance to get her booted. He _has _to have something we can use, to prove the raid wasn't a waste."

"He won't talk. Vaati and Zelda have been going at him all night."

"Let's you and me try. And Ghirahim." Link smiled weakly. "If that doesn't scare him into talking, I don't know what will."

Midna immediately sighed. "What do you propose, exactly? He knows you're an Advisor, so you fall into the 'enemy' category. Ghirahim's freaky and I'm..."

"You're our opening," Link said, as if explaining strategy to a very slow child. "You could be the...nice one. Ghirahim could play executioner. . .that could be fun."

"Wait a minute. You have a _hole _in your shoulder, you want to be on the same side as _Ghirahim _and you want me to pretend to be _nice?_ I know that club smacked you pretty hard, but this doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Do you have a better one? We're running out of time. I don't want..." he took a deep breath and shook his head, composing himself. "I don't want all of that to have been for nothing."

Midna gave him a long, hard look, but eventually sighed and walked to the corner of his room, where his tunic was folded, clean and evergreen as it had been the first day he saw it. "You had a really crappy sword. Too many dings and scratches for it to have been worth my while, so I had Zelda get you a new one," she said, picking up a long blade sheathed in gold and putting it at the foot of the bed. "I'll get Ghirahim."

/\\

"Oh, Princess, stop beating yourself up. The Ganon man wouldn't have talked, either," Vaati said, running his hands through his hair frustratedly before crossing his arms over his chest. They were just outside of the Castle Dungeon, far enough away from the cell that Madjer-the man they had captured-was being held in, under strict guards as well as a few of the toughest locks the Castle could conjure up on such short notice.

Zelda, surprisingly feisty for a woman so petite, shoved Vaati's chest. "You shouldn't have ever taken me out of the warehouse! Who are you to make decisions in my realm? Of my military operations? I should throw you in the dungeon with him!"

Vaati frowned. "I think I would be a lot harder to catch. But that's beside the point. You have enough to sentence him to death in a Royal Court, right? So do it."

"But then we get _nothing. _Nothing at all, and all future raids will be off limits. Ganon will escape. The Rosulyla will continue to try and steal my kingdom away from me, the Councilmen will have leverage against me...him not talking is buying Hyrule a shallow grave!"

The wind mage gusted to Zelda's other side. "These politics are frustrating you. Take a breather."

"It's dawn. Soon enough, the very rickety excuses we have made to cover up what happened last night will be discovered, and it will not go over well. I wouldn't be surprised if the Councilmen had _me _thrown into jail, for all it's worth," Zelda sunk down the side of the wall, fingers tightly wrapped in her own hair, as if to pull it out. She hadn't changed out of her heavy armor, the metal scraping loudly against the brick. "Dammit, dammit, dammit."

With a loud sigh, Vaati announced, "Cheer up. We have visitors. Maybe they'll offer some help."

Ghirahim, Midna, and Link walked down the spiral staircase and turned the corner to where Zelda and Vaati were. Zelda immediately looked up at Link, bruised on the forehead and bags under his eyes, with the worst of his wounds covered under his tunic. The way he held his arm told her that the fracture of his collarbone hadn't been amended by the use of the best of magically concocted salves.

"Link," she blurted, stumbling as she got to her feet. Vaati caught her as she fell back and she didn't bother to thank him, instead walking straight up to Link. "I am so sorry," she whispered. "For dragging you into this."

"Oh, please. He was the one who actually gave me the order to get you and Ralis out of there, and he gets a warm welcome?" Vaati grumbled.

Ignoring him, she looked at the rest of the group, cheeks pale with remorse. "All of you. I am gravely, gravely sorry for the loss of your companion, Zant. We will...ah, send someone to recover his body later this morning. We will be more than happy to help you with...burial procedures."

"He didn't have any family," Midna drawled. "Throw his body into the lake."

Her lack of sympathy was startling.

Link shook his head. "We're fine, for now, Princess. But I understand that the man we captured isn't cooperating. That takes first priority for us."

Zelda nodded. "His name is Madjer. Vaati and I have been going at him since returning to the Castle. No luck. He knows we're desperate. Do you have a play?"

"Ghirahim is going to pretend to be a foreign kingdom's minister who wantsthe man to be delivered to his very violent, very brutal, cannibalistic society to get revenge for Zant's death. Link will be himself, the bad-boy Advisor we all know and love...who is mighty upset that he has a hole in his shoulder and wants this man publicly hung for his crimes." Midna smirked, apparently very impressed with the plan. "And I'll be the prisoner's new best friend. They're going to be interrogating _me, _too, because _I _was apparently caught trying to escape as soon as we got out of the warehouse. I'm a double agent from Ghirahim's kingdom."

Vaati chuckled. "Wow. You gave your crown to Ghirahim. Must be desperate."

Zelda managed a small smile at that. "Do you have shackles?"

"For what?" Link asked.

"If Midna's going to be a prisoner, she has to have shackles."

Ghirahim rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, manifesting a long, ashy black pair of shackles. Midna grinned devilishly. "I like this. Hey, Short Stuff. Rip the sleeves off my suit, will you?"

Link frowned.

"Oh, just do it," she sighed. He stepped forward, somewhat timidly, and tore the fabric off her arms. "Much better." Midna bit her lip and clamped her hand down on her right arm, hissing and drawing back within a few seconds. A black scorch mark appeared over the deep rivets on her arm.

"That was impressive, dearest," Ghirahim smirked, snapping the shackles around her arms.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm really dedicated. Let's go crack this nut."

/\\

Midna stumbled into the dark, dingy cell, as if disoriented, and slammed into the wall. The guards outside smacked the bars back into place and relocked it before resuming their watching duties.

The man in red, a tall and somewhat chubby fellow with rat-like features, sneered at Midna from an unstable looking bench. "A playmate?" he asked. "How nice of them."

She frowned and outstretched her hands, wrists held close by the shackles palms up. "Try me."

Madjer held his own shackled hands up and grinned. "So they've thrown one of their own comrades in here. Trying to get me to talk? Not going to work."

"Comrade?" She snorted. "Please. They've been yakking at me all night. The Advisor and the King."

"Brush up on your history, foreigner, before trying to sell a story. We don't have a King here."

Midna gave him a look that told him that she thought he was the epitome of slow. "Not _your _King, or lack of. _My _King. The King from _my _kingdom. He asked for a few volunteers to come visit with him, and I went. So did two other guys. One of them is dead on the floor of _your _warehouse. I was planning to be safe and sound...unfortunately, I got caught."

"Caught?" The man raised his eyebrows.

"I messed the raid up on purpose. Had a meet with some high ranking bozo. Didn't that get up the food chain?"

Madjer, who Midna had rightfully suspected to be ignorantly egotistical, looked betrayed. "It didn't."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, that explains everything. See, my kingdom's not a super great place for a girl like me...too many rules and regulations. I was looking for a clean break. Unfortunately, the guy I made the deal with double crossed me, so I hit the road. The Advisor caught me."

"The ranks in the Rosulyla aren't trustworthy," he smiled, wearing an almost sympathetic expression. Midna bit her tongue.

The door to their cell slammed open, knocking the bars back against the wall. Ghirahim and Link sauntered in, wearing expressions of anger and frustration. It fit the situation personally. Midna nearly chuckled at the sight of them playing on the same side.

"As I was saying, Advisor, I believe he's _our_ property," Ghirahim frowned, examining Madjer much as a butcher would examine an animal. "I must insist that he be taken back to our realm for the death of our dearest Zant to be brought to the light of justice." He strode across the cell and smiled, predatory, at Midna. "Ah, look. The betrayer herself. Did you enjoy double crossing us? Selling our divine knowledge and secrets to thugs?"

_He didn't have to reach far for that one, _Midna noted. She blew her hair out of her face and shrugged nonchalantly.

"He can't be your property, Lord Ghirahim," Link said, crossing the cell and squinting hard at Madjer. "I'm very sorry, but you have to remember that while one of your men was killed, _five _of ours were. _Five._ He'll be put on trial here as soon as he gives me his full confession, even better if he can tell us about what happened in Farorica."

Ghirahim huffed out air and pouted against the far wall. Link waved his fingers in Madjer's face. "Alright, let's hear it. I can take an oral confession or I can find a scroll and quill for you to write one with."

"I'm not giving you a confession or _any _information, you _scum _Advisor of Zelda," Madjer hissed, spitting at Link's boots.

There were a few beats of silence.

"That so?" Link asked, almost lazily. He crossed his arms. "Well, Lord Ghirahim, this puts me in a bind. The Royal Courts require known criminals to give confessions for a full and just trial, and I truly do want some more information about Farorica...if he doesn't want to talk or give a confession, we can't get a full trial here...I might be interested in signing him over to you."

Link, lying wildly without remorse, remained completely serious for the moment.

Ghirahim smirked. "We don't have such a complicated process in my kingdom...witnesses would be required, of course, for the execution."

"Hanging?" Link asked, dryly.

"No, no. Hanging won't do. Not for the death of a man on a noble mission to help establish relations here. That, and all of the resources we'll spend getting him back..."

"Don't do this," Midna falsely pleaded, her voice a little too high. Link had to turn away and cough, to cover his laughter. He found strange glee in this surreptitious-well, not a prank, but something close. A bit of amusement. Payback. Revenge.

"You shouldn't worry, dearest traitor. We'll burn _you _at the stake. You know the Royal Tribe doesn't enjoy cannibalizing women, even if they are criminals-you know, there is just something about the taste..." Ghirahim trailed off, shaking his head as if it were a shame.

At that, Madjer paled, smirk being wiped off his rat like features for the first time. Midna could hardly believe that Link's plan was working. With an inner smirk, she wondered how Madjer had ever made it to a second in command position with such stupidity.

"Have you eaten a Hylian before?" Link inquired conversationally. Ghirahim opened his mouth and nodded, but Link raised a hand and shook his head. "Never mind. Don't answer that. I'm sworn to report all possible acts of war...and unless he was a criminal...you get the picture." Link clapped Ghirahim on the back. "Well, this one _is _a criminal, so it's not an issue. I'll go sign the remaining paperwork in the Court and you'll be free to leave with these two. I really am sorry about the loss of your comrade. Hyrule welcomes you back at any time-consider it an IOU."

The Advisor turned as if to leave the cell, the guards stiffening, and Madjer immediately fell victim to the bluff. "Advisor! Advisor, please! I'll sign your Goddessdamned confession!"

Link turned on his heel to look at the prisoner and sighed. Ghirahim growled and Link gestured to the angry Demon Lord. "See...I have already promised him that he could have you. Now I have to go back on my word. See this fine man? I don't want to be on his bad side."

Midna squirmed in her chains.

Link sighed. "Get on with it. It'd better be a damn good confession. _And _you'd better enlighten me on what the hell your guys were doing in Farorica."

"I oath that I was one of the high ranking officials in the Rosulyla, second only to Ganon himself. Something about him has changed lately-"

"Yes, he was always such a nice guy before," Link sarcastically interrupted. He surprised himself with the casual way he could speak about such horrors. He almost sounded like Midna.

Madjer gave him a nervous, sweaty look. "He recently tried to set up establishment in Farorica. He wanted control of the land. He wants to be able to put a choke point on Castle Town with the rest of the country!"

Link frowned. "I suspected. Is that all you have?" Dryly, he turned to Ghirahim. "You might get him after all."

"Wait! Wait, I can tell you about the raid-usually, I handled all meets with our informants and organize everything. We almost...shared power. But just before your raid, he insisted on meeting with my informant-"

"Your informant?"

"Samuel Mastes! And, and I heard there was one more, just before this raid-maybe her!" he pointed wildly to Midna. "Maybe the second one was her! There was another one! Please, Advisor, let me plead guilty-"

Dread settled into the air, thick and heavy. Link pulled a key out of his tunic, kneeled down, and unshackled Midna, who promptly reached down to Madjer with blazing fingertips. She clamped her hands around his wrist and kicked him in the shin, prompting a loud cry. "That's for killing one of my subjects, you worthless piece of filth. But really, thank you for your confession. No worries. I'm sure Zelda will get around to executing you sometime. I'll buy front row tickets to your hanging ceremony."

"W-what?" Madjer whispered, shock clear on his face. Midna sauntered over to Ghirahim.

"That's why I'm ruler, and you're not. Nice job, though, boys."

"What?!" Madjer yelled. She turned around, snapped her fingers, and manifested a long black cloth-the remains of her leather suit sleeves.

"Would you shut up?" She hissed, waltzing over to him and tying the sleeve around his mouth as a gag. Midna turned to Link. "Now, I know you all might not do that here...but I'm pretty sure everybody involved is tired of his egotistical whining."

She stood and turned to Link, who wore an expression of absolute fury. "So we found a leak. Samuel Mastes? The Council dude? Yeah, let's roast him on a spit."

"This is going to cause calamity," Link muttered, rubbing his temples, heart rate returning to normal. He felt the onslaught of bad memories from the night before threatening to spill into his consciousness. He sighed. "But it's worth it. Let's go tell Zelda and Vaati."

/\\\

As soon as they broke the news of what had been said to Vaati and Zelda, the Castle went into what Link could only describe as lockdown, seeping out of the buildings walls and into the surrounding town, and, after that, the country.

The warehouse that they had raided, though full of gore, was missing a few bodies, Zant's included. Zelda suspected that the Rosulyla were defaming his corpse. It would show up later, she thought.

Ralis led a small team of men to the luxury house of Samuel Mastes and immediately took him into custody, as well as placing the other three Councilmen under house arrest. This did not come without cost to Zelda, who held an equal amount of power. She, too, was forbidden to leave her home, the Castle.

A full Royal Court investigation would be conducted, to try Samuel Mastes and to, hopefully, find the second informant. It would take time. Weeks. Perhaps months.

Meanwhile, no legislative Council decisions were to be made. If an emergency arose, three juries of citizens were to be conjured up and a royal Advisor or Scholar could propose a solution for said juries to argue over. The Princess and Councilmen were cut out from the equation.

Though this was all standard emergency protocol, written about in many scholarly books about procedure, it was alarming. The town was abuzz, and Link could only imagine the wild rumors flying in the small towns outside of Castle Town. He had no doubt that the citizens would be angry, already so distrustful of the government, under pressure of the Rosulyla, and now, the scandal that the two had overlapped-it would be chaos.

Chaos that he would face in the morning.

They sat in a private dining hall, a simple meal of bread, stew, and wine in front of them, dazed, running on little to no sleep. Zelda sat at the front of the table, perhaps looking the most awestruck of all of them.

"What did your military guy, Ralis, say as far as how long this is going to take?" Midna asked, taking a long swig of wine before clearing the silence.

Zelda poked at her stew bowl and sighed. "A while," she sighed.

"We caught the bastard, the guy who has been making sure that the Rosulyla are prepared to fight you all. You can take Ganon, now," Vaati suggested.

"He'll go into hiding, I'm sure, and run his organization from underground," Zelda responded. She, too, took a long sip of her wine. "I have no way of gathering a raid."

Midna nodded. "And even his street thugs are ruthless."

"There will be revolts if the collections and threatening of the citizens keeps going while there isn't a formal Council to complain to," Zelda muttered. "My kingdom will be in shambles before the Courts are finished."

The Twilight Princess shook her head. "Not on my watch."

Ghirahim and Link, who had been silent and just eating their food, poked their heads up at that.

Midna continued. "Tomorrow, I'm taking Ghirahim-Vaati, you stay, I don't want you anywhere near that stupid ass desert-and we're going back to my realm. We're going to bring in my mercenaries, my executioners, back here. It'll be small and quiet. They're assassins and will remove the problem of street thugs."

Zelda's eyes widened. "That is very, very generous of you."

"Yeah, yeah. You guys are growing on me. Not gonna leave you here to sit on your thumbs while criminals roam the streets," Midna grumbled, shovelling stew in her mouth.

Link, who had never felt so frail and exhausted in his entire life, looked across the table at Midna. "For what it's worth...thank you, Midna."

She shrugged. "Don't mention it."

Vaati chimed in. "So can I help with cleaning the Rosulyla street thugs? Even if I don't round up the friendlies from our realm?"

Midna nodded. "I want all hands on deck. That's an order. From your lovely Princess."

The conversation went on, quiet and random. Ghirahim, however, was stewing, carefully hiding his thoughts behind a mask on his face. He was scheming, of course. He felt the genius of his mind beginning to work, the gears turning. They would form a plan, shortly, and it would be a marvelous one, one that would wash away all of the vices and infidelities of the past day, the blood of thugs and petty thieves would no longer weigh on his mind.

It would take time, though.

He looked at Midna from the corner of his eye, just in time to hear her say, "-we shouldn't take longer than a day to come back from our realm once we depart tomorrow."

_That cannot happen, dearest, _he thought, fighting to keep a smirk off his face. _You won't be going anywhere._

/\\

Her servants had prepared a bath for her.

Warm and fragrant, the tub sat alone in the mostly bare washroom, only accompanied by a tall mirror in the corner. A small marble-topped table lined one side of the room, with a basket for her clothes and armor by the servant's entrance. She was two doors away from her bedroom, where she had refused to sleep.

Reluctantly, she started to slip off her armor, one piece at a time, viewing them each critically. Each dent and scratch reminded her of the raid, reminding her of the bloody floors and the fire and clanging of swords, and worst of all, her failure to retrieve the source of it all. Her one shot that she had spectacularly blown. Her fingers, released from the metal gauntlets, were smooth and pale in the brightly lit bathroom, not red and glistening as she pictured them to be. It was her fault. The bodies-the bodies of the innocent-that she had carefully stepped over or around...they could have been spared. She had known their small chances, and yet she had brought them into it anyway.

Zelda had no desire to gaze in the mirror, to stare into her own eyes and see the guilt and loss there. She avoided it, catching only glimpses of flying armor as she tossed it away from her, sickened by the very sight of her lifeless protector. Carefully, she stepped into the bath, ready to wash away the sweat and dust from her body.

She tried her very best not to think about the blood or the death or the guilt. She allowed her mind to go blank, to forget, for just a few precious moments.

Suddenly, with a sharp gasp, she sat up in the water, her hands traveling to her throat. She had felt _his_ monstrous hands around it, again, just a ghost of the original feeling. Her armor had been bent inwards from that-from the strangling grip that would have killed her. She pressed gently at the flesh there, realizing the pangs of pain were not imaginary. Horrified, she stood, water cascading off of her body, to stare in the mirror.

A deep blue ring encircled the middle of her neck, bruised and painful, and Zelda sunk back down into the water, her hands bringing the soap up to her skin. Gripping a washcloth tightly, she scrubbed at the marking, desperately, absolutely futile against the injury. Eventually, the pain broke through, and she whimpered slightly, hating the noise as it escaped her lips.

She released the cloth and sunk below the water, long enough for her lungs to burn in search of air, and she remained, savoring the lapse of time and memory, there submerged in the warm liquid. She wondered if she could be free in death. She wondered if she could _forget_ in death. She wished for that-for freedom and for forgetting. But there was so little time for her to do her duty.

Her heart yearned for the water's embrace.

As she felt her head begin to pulse in the last beats of time before unconsciousness, she sat up, taking a deep, shuddering breath, recalling everything.

/\\\

Ghirahim's body seemed luminescent in the moonlight, his clothing freshly washed by some lowly servant of the Princess. With a slight sigh, he distastefully remembered the blood of a few criminals splashing on it, regretting that he had fought those thugs. They were _below___him. They did not warrant his intervention. Such menial positions in a generally inferior criminal organization...they disgusted him. His decency prevented him from refusing to help his fair Princess, however, and she was infatuated with the Hylian's cause.

That was not that case for Ghirahim. In fact, he dearly hoped for Midna to move on from her obsession and see what was truly in front of her-a falling Realm...an opportunity.

A smile graced his face for a moment before he exited his suite, his feet light upon the wood floors. Gently, softly, carefully, he opened the door to the neighboring room, where his Princess _did_ sleep, her body outlined beneath the linens on the bed, fiery hair splayed around her head like a kind of blasphemous halo. He smiled again, this time a smirk, as he crept inside.

Ghirahim didfear detection in this particular task, though he compensated with footsteps that were quieter than the very wind-the word, as it crossed his mind, reminded him of Vaati and his seemingly fraternal bond with the Advisor, and he scowled. On a nearby chair, feet from Midna's sleeping body, was her cloak, which she had not returned to her shadow. In a small interior pocket, the object he desired rested, glowing with the light of a Sol. He danced lightly over to it, rummaging through the cloak before he felt it in his palm.

With another wide and true smile, he held the Princess's link to her realm in his hand and sauntered back to his suite, the weight virtually unnoticeable in his shadow.

** Author's Note: This chapter was intentionally long and, while I (author one/lovingyourillusion) had the urge to make it as dark or darker than the last, we thought that we'd give you all a small break, at least in the first scene. We want to thank our readers for all the kind words we've received lately! Thank you, guys.**


	21. Chapter 21

By the time Link opened his eyes, a late morning light was filtering down through the windows in his guest suite. He sat up straight, suddenly, and winced when a jab of pain struck his shoulder. He had put the red salve on it again before going to bed, but he suspected that he was just going to have to deal with it.

He rubbed his eyes, washing away the images of the raid and the nightmares that would stalk him for years-if not longer-now. Today would be the journeying day. Ghirahim and Midna would travel to the Twilight Realm to gather reinforcements. He couldn't help but be slightly wary of the idea, but the help was absolutely necessary; Hyrule was doomed to fall if nothing was done while the Castle was entirely tied up.

A part of it brought a pang of regret to his heart to think that as soon as the Rosulyla were taken care of, Hyrule would be fine. The Royal Court would finish the investigation. Zelda would be perfectly safe. There would no longer be any need for him to masquerade as her Advisor-his assignment would be over. He wondered what he would do when it was over.

Did he even want to go back into the Hylian military? The freedom he had now, the purpose and the mission, was something he had found as a child in Ordon-working on a ranch, free of any kind of order, surrounded by childhood friends-and had come to Castle Town in search of. It wasn't that he was having _fun _with a death threat looming or with stumbling into the middle of an insanely violent raid, but...he had purpose, and freedom, and individuality. More importantly, he was surrounded with people...who were, at least in his eyes, friends.

He thought of Midna. Could he call her a friend? Certainly more than an acquaintance. He warily listed Vaati as a friend, and, of course, Zelda. He had a connection to her he couldn't explain, one he had felt once before but couldn't name the time. His brain felt too muddled to put the pieces together. It didn't matter, though. Two out of three of his friends would be going back to their own homes once the job was done, and Zelda...well, appearances wouldn't allow the two of them to be friends.

Maybe he would go back to Ordon, though there wasn't really any work left there. All the childhood friends had left and only a few senior ranchers and rural families still manned the town. He had no family, and he never had, always staying with one of the ranchers as a kid. There wasn't much waiting for him there, and the thought of going back to the barracks put a foul taste in his mouth.

He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair, feeling stupidly selfish for such thoughts. _Stupid, _he thought. Getting emotionally attached to his duties...such a bad idea.

Shoving his feelings aside, Link stood from his bed just as there was knock at the door. One of Zelda's servants, letting him know that there was a bath waiting for him. _Nice gesture, _he thought.

Not even twenty minutes later, he had scrubbed all traces of grime and misery from his body and dressed in the evergreen tunic that Midna had cleaned for him the previous day, lacing up a pair of archer's boots and sheathing his sword at his waist before exiting the room. He found the door to Midna's guest suite ajar, where the Princess was sitting on the floor, legs crossed and eyes closed, as if in meditation.

He stood, observing for a few minutes, before she opened her eyes and hissed in surprise at his presence. Her cheeks paled.

"You okay?" he asked, echoing her words from yesterday.

She snorted, pulling herself up onto her feet. "Relatively speaking."

"I didn't realize you were into meditation."

"I was trying to pray," she responded, as if ashamed. "Though, lot of good that did us the other night."

He immediately put his hands up, blushing. "Oh!" he coughed, trying to hide a smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on...your prayer."

Midna rolled her eyes, hair dripping as she shook her head.. She must have had a bath drawn, too. She was dressed in lacy black robes with streaks of gold on the sleeves, and she emitted a sense of nobility that he hadn't ever seen her in. "Don't worry about it." She walked across the room and picked up her cloak off the floor, snapping her fingers and watching with satisfaction as it disappeared into her shadow.

"Are you setting out already?"

"Yeah. Ghirahim had an errand to run, but he'll meet us in Zelda's room."

Link smiled. "Sounds good. You look all dolled up."

She smiled wickedly as the two of them walked out of the doorway. "I do have to rally the best of my assassins. Generally not the kind of thing you show up in rags for, Short Stuff."

They started down the hallway, and, Link, as if unable to stand the heaviness of silence, spoke. "Do you miss your realm?"

Midna laughed. "Duh. Though I have to hand it to you..." she stopped at one of the hall windows, sunlight splashing her skin. "The sun is nice here. Much nicer than the Sols. I guess my realm can feel a little cold and artificial at times. But I run the show there, which means it's great and bad ass by association."

He chuckled as they walked down the staircase and down to Zelda's room, entering it without a second thought when the guards nodded at them. Vaati and Ghirahim both stood in the room, tensely across from each other in arm chairs, as Zelda leaned against the wall.

"Good morning," Zelda greeted Link and Midna. "I've laid out a plan of sorts."

Midna nodded. "Let's hear it. Quick, please. I'm going to try and do this whole thing as quickly as possible. There are unsavory characters in the desert."

Zelda gestured to the Twili group. "You and Ghirahim will go to your realm and gather the...team. Come back, and Vaati will help clean up the streets. I estimate that the Royal Court investigation will take about a month, the criminals will be put in jail, and all of Ganon's street forces will be out of the equation. We'll capture him and-"

"Ganon will be dead," Midna interrupted. "I'm not leaving till he is."

Zelda took a breath and nodded. "Fair enough. This entire affair should be done within a few weeks." She bowed her head a bit. "After this mission is done, we can, perhaps establish relations between our realms...exchange resources...perhaps even have civilian travel." She smiled wryly.

"You might wanna do something about Nabooru out there in the desert. She'd probably put a damper on things," Midna chimed in.

Vaati coughed in agreement.

"All will be discussed in due time," Zelda nodded. She gestured quickly to Link. "For the meantime, let's get started on ending this mission. Link, I do have an assignment for you, as well. . .I need you to go check on operations at the Goron Mine at Death Mountain. There was recently a private audit ordered...by a Councilman. I want somebody who has more...quiet methods of investigation to go and check on it. I just have a feeling."

Link cleared his throat. It felt odd that he had a lump, there. "Death Mountain," he said, faking a smile. All he knew about Death Mountain was that it was east of Castle Town, hot, and dry. "Sounds fun. I'll be more than happy to go. If I leave now...I should be back in a few days. Maybe a week."

Vaati nodded. "In time to see us wrap everything up here."

Link smiled, again.

"That sounds fine," Zelda said. "And I am...ah, well, our guards are searching town for further signs of Zant's body."

Ghirahim smiled sarcastically. "How very generous of them."

Midna elbowed him, rolling her eyes. "Sounds like a plan, Zelda." She stole a look at Vaati, who hovered suspiciously close to Zelda's side. "Think you can keep an eye on Gusty while I'm gone?"

The Princess of Hyrule laughed heartily. "With guards watching my every move? I don't think he will be a problem."

An uncomfortable, thick silence settled upon the room, akin to dread but mixed with...nostalgia? Link couldn't tell as Midna cleared her throat and clapped Zelda on the back. "Well, then. We'll be back later. Be good, Vaati." She looked at Link. "Want to walk us to the courtyard, Short Stuff?"

He bowed at the waist, braving a smile. "It'd be my honor."

Ghirahim sneered. "Chivalrous of you."

Link smiled politely and Midna and Ghirahim shuffled out of Zelda's room before him. He turned back to look at Zelda and Vaati. "I'll see you, Princess...and, uhm, you too, Vaati." It felt awkward to give a half-goodbye to the mage that he had befriended.

Zelda nodded, while Vaati smirked. "See ya when you get back from Death Mountain."

Link did a quick salute and then stepped from the room, leading Midna and Ghirahim in a silent procession down the stairs and through the Castle parlor, which was abuzz with scholars and guards, calamity over the scandal ringing through the air. The trio lowered their heads, not seeking attention, and walked out into the bright air of the courtyard. Sunlight spilled down from the white-hot sky above them, awakening diamonds on Ghirahim's skin.

The courtyard was surprisingly empty, most people having gone to the inside of the castle or hanging out in the town square. Link briskly turned to Ghirahim and offered a hand, which the Demon Lord shook with a rather sour expression on his face. Then he glanced at Midna, who outstretched her hands and smiled at Link.

"Hey, Short Stuff, this isn't goodbye," Midna said. "But I'll see you later." She quickly embraced him, much to Ghirahim's displeasure. It felt odd to Link, with the Twilight Princess being a good foot taller than he was, but he accepted the hug anyway.

"Definitely," he smiled, bowing his head a bit. "Good luck getting your...ah, helpers, together. I'll see you in a couple of days."

Midna nodded and grabbed Ghirahim's hand, preparing her warp spell. "Count on it." She then gave a sly look to the Demon Lord. "Let's hope I can warp us directly into the Mirror Chamber and we don't get seen by our desert friends."

He watched, a small smile on his face as Midna and Ghirahim swirled into a thousand black particles, dancing up into the sky and then fading from sight altogether, becoming wispy dark smudges against the white-blue horizon.

Link exhaled a breath through clenched teeth, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, steadying himself. Taking in a deep gulp of air, he clenched his hands at his sides and began the walk through Castle Town, a hiking supply shop on his agenda before he headed out of town for good.

/\\\

The desert wind whipped into Midna's face as soon as she hit the ground, and immediately, a wave of relief hit her. They had warped onto the spiraling circle pathway that enclosed the outer rim of the Mirror Chamber—above where Nabooru and the Gerudo lurked. She stood and realized that they had landed in what appeared to be a low-level sandstorm, with hot, forceful winds blowing sharp pelts of sand into her face. She frowned and pulled a long black scarf from her Shadow Storage and wrapped it around her face, leaving only a narrow slit for her eyesight, for protection.

She looked over and Ghirahim and saw that he had done the same. She pointed up, where the pathway curved into the basin of the Chamber. They briskly started walking up the path that spiraled upwards.

Ghirahim was glad that he had a scarf covering the smirk on his face, assuming that his hunch had been correct. He had had a feeling…yes, just a little feeling that somebody had tinkered with the Portal they had opened to the other realm. He had put a trace on the magic they used—an alarm, of sorts, and as they drew nearer to the Portal, he felt a strong rift in the spell.

And, if the Portal had been somehow closed off, he knew that his little hunch _would _be correct. That somebody, perhaps one of the Rosulyla…or, perhaps, he allowed, Zant had somehow lived and had some sort of nefarious scheme—had gone back to the Twilight Realm and began wreaking havoc there. He didn't particularly care. That would be easy enough to deal with. He could surely find a new way to open a Portal once the time was right, take over the Twilight Realm…and leave Hyrule in shambles.

And Midna would be unable to communicate with the other side, he knew, because of the enchanted orb's absence that she had yet to notice. He gleefully felt it in his Shadow Storage, gloating inside, as they rounded the corner and—

A stream of profanities flowed from Midna's mouth as she sprinted to the Portal, or, rather, what was left of it. Ghirahim staggered backwards, his hands coming to his chest in shock and offense.

The Portal, once moon-shined and almost ice-coated, had been frozen solid by some sort of magic and then _shattered, _a half-circle still in the frame on the ground but two pieces _missing._

"Dammit!" Midna yelled, dropping to her knees, fingers spread over the remaining half. "Who did this?!"

Ghirahim formulated a quick response without giving away his shock. "They can't be far. They couldn't have possibly gone through the Portal without those two pieces."

So he had been wrong. If Zant or the Rosulyla were behind this, which he was sure one of them were, they were still in the Light Realm. _Damn it, _he swore to himself. He had thought himself so suave. "So the bastards are still here," Midna growled, anger flushing her cheeks. She closed her eyes, shifting through her Shadow Storage…

"Where in the hell is the Orb?" Midna muttered. She threw her fists down to the ground. "The Orb is missing!"

"The one that we were supposed to use to communicate with the other side in times of dire emergency?" Ghirahim asked, mock concern written all over his face.

"Yes, that one," she hissed. "It's gone. It's not in my Shadow Storage, not in my cloak—not anywhere. Dammit, dammit, dammit, we're locked in here. Who did this?!" She shouted, voice becoming increasingly furious.

Ghirahim knew that Midna would turn on him in mid-seconds if he didn't come up with an answer. He did not want to implicate the Rosulyla or suggest that Zant could still be alive, though that's what he suspected, to Midna—he could still take advantage of this situation. But first, he needed a scapegoat. He frantically looked around the chamber and finally, his eyes fell upon a saving grace—

A Sage's mask, sitting on the floor, covered in a few day's worth of desert sand. He didn't really care to think about how it ended up there, but an idea flashed.

"Vaati," he declared, flashing to the ground by the Sage's mask and scooping it up. "He could be behind this."

"Is that a mask from one of the Sages?" Midna hissed, pacing towards Ghirahim, eyes wild.

He nodded. "He must have come here…gotten in yet another altercation…something must have spooked him, so instead of going through the Portal, he must have put the spell on it and stolen half the pieces. They could still be in his possession. He must be awaiting his opportunity to go back to the Twilight Realm and lock us out—"

"That slimy _bastard!_" Midna yelled. "I'll roast him on a spit!" She grabbed Ghirahim's hand, much to his displeasure, and snapped her fingers, a warp spell spinning at her feet. "We're going to go find him. Hope Zelda still has him locked down!"

As the spell whirred and warped them, Ghirahim knew that he would only have a limited amount of time before the group scrutinized him as much as they would scrutinize Vaati. He would have to escape.

/\\\

Link sighed and hefted his rather heavy new travelling bag over his shoulder, filled with water canteens, dried fruits, grappling hook and rope, and thick leather gloves. He tossed a red rupee at the shopkeeper, who put it into her own cash bag, and he set out through the door, heading east through Castle Town.

Town really was abuzz, the scandal ringing high and low. Angry citizens rallied and shouted, and tabloid rats passed out scrolls with ridiculous headlines to anybody who would stop and listen. Gossip was ringing in the air. He was almost glad he was leaving town.

He ventured east, farther east than he had ever been, and eventually reached a drawbridge leading out of Castle Town. On the other side of it, a field stretched out, eventually turning to savannah and after that, scrub as far as the eye could see. He sighed. _Doesn't look pleasant._

Nevertheless, he took a step onto the drawbridge, and—

"Hey!"

A winded, familiar voice rang out to him. He turned—

"Short Stuff," Midna yelled, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. She took a deep breath and offered him a hand. "Advisor," she breathed. "We have a problem."

/\\\

Vaati had been sulkily wandering the halls outside Zelda's room, finding his way back to his own guest suite with guards stationed by the stairwell, lying on the bed and playing games of shadows-melting into the walls and slinking, moving like a ghost to amuse himself. He'd be waiting a few more hours, certainly, before Midna and Ghirahim returned.

He vaguely wondered how Link's journey was going. He had sort of befriended the Advisor, in a brotherly kind of way, and he couldn't help but notice that it was certainly boring without Link hanging around. He exhaled a breath of air, melting back out of the shadows and leaning against the suite wall. He curled his fingers, conducting two pillows from the bed to arise and begin slamming against each other. He smirked, amused.

He heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, up to Zelda's floor, a story beneath him. He wondered if it were blasted gossip columnists or scholars looking to chat with the Princess about the recent uproar. Curious, he leaned his head to the floor and listened to what was going on.

Vaati heard the sounds of calamity, winded shouts, and much to his surprise, Midna's voice.

"Where is he?!" A sharp demand from the Twilight Princess.

"Who?" A guard, maybe.

"Vaati. The man we left here with Zelda." Another voice that shocked Vaati-Link's.

What was going on? Why were they looking for him? Nervously, Vaati crossed the room and grabbed the cloak he had thrown to the floor, sending it into his Shadow Storage in a quick motion.

He caught the word _traitor _float up from the floor beneath him and realized that something was very, very wrong. He had no time to think, except to formulate one quick curse: _that bastard, Ghirahim. _He had done nothing wrong and he had figured that Ghirahim would be up to some scheming plot of his own. He had no idea what he was implicated in or what Ghirahim would be up to, but if they were looking for him, it couldn't be good.

He wasn't going to stick around to find out.

Heart racing, the wind mage quickly locked the door to his suite and eyed the bay window on the other side of the room. Unfortunately, there was no place to escape from, just a straight drop down into the castle courtyard. He opened it anyway. Thinking quickly, he remembered a balcony garden underneath the third window in the hall, which would make for a soft landing and an easy climb down. It was time to leave. He would have to figure out the rest from wherever he went.

But one thing was for sure, if he was the scapegoat in one of Ghirahim's plans, Ghirahim would have to go on the run sooner rather than later, as well. His charade of blaming Vaati would only last for so long before he was found out.

_See you soon, you bastard, _he thought.

Footsteps rattled up the hallway. He couldn't get to the window and not be seen. If he couldn't be seen, he'd have to use some sort of leverage to escape-

Thinking quickly again, he melted into the shadows right by the door, nothing more than a pool of darkness. The lock did not hold the mob off for long, but he didn't need a long time. He just needed seconds to make his move.

The door burst open and Midna, Ghirahim, Link, a couple of guards, and Zelda immediately swarmed inside, shouting orders and running to the open window-"_did he already escape?!" _

Vaati materialized out of the shadows and grabbed Zelda, who let out a startled yelp, by the neck, her back to him. "Sorry, Princess," he hissed. "I'm not the bad guy here."

The rest of the group turned on their heels, Link's face wearing a look of absolute betrayal. Vaati winced, but looked at Ghirahim, whose face let _just _a bit of horror out and he knew that it had been a set up, after all.

Vaati, dragging Zelda as a human shield, backed into the hallway, up to one of the windows. He threw his hand out and a hail of glass shattered, providing his opening. Thee Princess struggled against him, attempting to drive an elbow into his stomach, but he braced himself and prepared to jump backwards.

"You won't get away," Zelda warned. He loosened his grip, just holding her by his hand on her neck now, holding up a finger to the group in warning.

"Only liars need to get away. Honest men need disappearing acts," Vaati muttered. "See you soon, Princess." He shoved her forward, towards the group, and in a smooth motion, flipped out the window, gusting into nothing more but air on the breeze.

A disappearing act.

In the same instance, the group checked Zelda for injuries-finding only yellowing bruises from the raid upon her neck- and guards went in a steady stream out of the Castle, in pursuit of Vaati. Link, Midna, Zelda, and Ghirahim, of course, knew that such pursuit was useless. Calamity faded in seconds, heavy breathing replaced shouts and hushed whispers replacing winded commands. It took everybody a few moments to realize something, though, that in the steady whirlwind of guards and movement-

"Link," Midna muttered, looking at Zelda, who was barking commands to guards.

Link quickly whirled around in the hall, searching the sea of faces and armor-

Realization and dread settled upon the duo, eyes locking and faces paling. Midna slammed her hands into the wall, singeing a tapestry in the process, in her frustration. "Dammit all. Ghirahim's gone."

**Author's Note: Wow! We had a ton of ground to cover in this chapter and obviously, there were some very important events. It took a lot of time to get everything written and edited, so we apologize for the rather lengthy wait. :) Hopefully, it was worth it!**


	22. Chapter 22

Timing was everything.

This much, Zelda, Midna, and Link knew. Within ten minutes of realizing Ghirahim was gone, Zelda produced the keys to the Castle stable and handed them off to Link and Midna.

"Take two of the Castle's finest mares to Death Mountain," she instructed them. "I will call in a personal favor. Ralis will head the search for Ghirahim and Zant. Thank you, Midna, for volunteering to join Link."

Midna snorted. "I can't deny it, I feel the same as you do...something's going to go wrong in those mines now. Ganon, Ghirahim, or Vaati. Something's going to happen and I want to help Short Stuff out."

She also quickly handed off a pack of travel supplies alike to Link's to Midna, who had incinerated numerous tapestries in the last few minutes. Link looked at her worriedly. "Do you think either of them have the other half of the...seal?" He struggled to come up with the correct terminology based on her hasty description of what she had seen at the Mirror Chamber.

Midna chewed her lip. "Maybe. Maybe just one of them, or maybe they decided to get cute and they are about to meet up at the Mirror Chamber..."

She looked at Zelda. "Before we take two of your horses, I need to run by the Mirror Chamber. That second half of the seal is still there. If they have the physical pieces of the shattered half of the spell...they'll be able to lock me out of the Twilight Realm and wreak havoc over there." Midna looked angrily at the ground and Link could tell that she was absolutely ashamed of the events that had just conspired. . .and perhaps a little angry at herself. He knew that Midna was the type of person that didn't trust people easily, and so being betrayed was even more painful for her.

Zelda nodded. "I completely understand. How long will it take you to warp there and warp back?"

"Assuming I don't run into the bastards...twenty minutes."

"And if you do?"

Midna flipped her palms up and fire danced up her arms, licking at her scars hungrily. She looked the picture of deadliness. She closed her eyes and the flames extinguished in an instant, a smirk dancing across her lips. "Twenty five."

Zelda smiled politely, completely unfazed by the display of hellfire. "Very well. I can ask somebody to summon two horses for you. They'll be ready to travel when you get back."

Link jumped into the conversation. "That sounds great."

Midna looked at him, eyes hard, but the set of her jaw told Link that she was upset. "You don't have to come to the Chamber with me, Short Stuff."

"But I'd like to," he responded, shortly. Midna opened her mouth to protest.

Zelda raised a hand to stop Midna from speaking. "Link, as my Advisor-" she shot a quick look at Link, who realized with some chagrin that the act was still on- "will be your chaperone. At all times. Things are much too dangerous for you to go alone."

Midna frowned, but rolled her eyes back into her head. "Fine. Doesn't hurt to have a swordsman with me. Where's the nearest private balcony?"

The Princess of Hyrule raised an eyebrow.

"I can't warp inside and I am _not _going through the mess of leeches that are hanging out in your parlor again," Midna explained, impatiently flexing her hands.

Zelda nodded and quickly walked to the other side of the room, flinging open her window. A small ledge was present on the other side-not enough to walk on, but certainly enough to stand on-towering far above one of the Castle's side gardens.

Midna smirked and pulled Link along to the window, hoisting herself up. "I'll see you soon, Zel," Midna said.

"Best of luck at the Mirror Chamber. The horses will be prepared for when you get back."

Link nodded, yanking himself up onto the window and ducking out to the other side, pressing himself against the exterior wall. Midna squeezed his hand and snapped her own fingers, the world whirring into a mosaic of thousands of pieces as the duo floated upwards like smoke into the sky.

/

The hot desert air sucked the breath right out of Link's mouth as they touched down in the Mirror Chamber. Immediately, he was thrown backwards, blinded by the sting of something in his eyes and the oxygen choked from his lungs. On his knees, he felt the gravelly texture of sand-gritty, tough sand, like nothing he had ever felt. It was a whole different matter from the soft sands on the shores of the Ordon Spring near his hometown. His heart raced. He couldn't see anything. Was this some sort of attack? He immediately reached for his sword-

A hand clamped down on his elbow, and Midna's voice came to him, howling with a whistle of wind. "Don't decapitate me. It's a sandstorm." She snapped her fingers and wrapped a creamy, transparent white scarf around his neck and the lower half of his face, letting it hang low over his eyes. He nervously opened them again and found that, though he had to squint, he could see Midna standing in front of him, a see-through black scarf protecting her.

He had never been to the desert before, much less the Mirror Chamber. But immediately, the stunning heat and amount of _sand _everywhere became the distinguishing features. Everything was a bizarre shade of clay and tan, with the duo standing on the circular staircase that led up to the Chamber itself.

"Let's follow the staircase up," Midna instructed. "The Chamber is on top of the building." She put a finger to her lips. "Quiet as possible. I don't want to give anybody who is waiting for us there an advantage."

He nodded and, upon standing and feeling the absolute dryness of his throat and being hit by another wall of wind and sand, decided that Death Mountain would not be a bad experience at all. He drew his sword and jogged along Midna's side, spiraling up to the Mirror Chamber.

As soon as they entered the chamber, Link skidded to a stop, aghast with wonder. Columns with engraved glyphs danced in a circle around the structure, casting shadows like a clock that hovered over the platform of the structure. In the center, an icey half-moon shape hovered, luminescent like a pearl.

Midna sprinted towards it and he realized that it the half-moon was undoubtedly the manifestation of the seal. Link jogged up behind her, casting a glance behind him as the wind whipped and distorted his vision like fog. He tightened his grip on his blade as the Twilight Princess gripped both sides of the seal. She muttered a few words under her breath, a rustling whisper that danced with the sand in the air, and the seal _liquified, _streaks of black and blindingly white water zipping through the air.

She raised her hands and the liquid spell smashed into a thin, half moon plate-much smaller than the original-in the air, solidifying the seal once more. She snapped her fingers and the seal vanished into her Shadow Storage. She turned her head, eyes piercing into Link's. "We beat them to the punch-"

A high keening noise split down through the air and Link spun his blade around, on instinct, meeting a long, thin saber right before a blow that would have ended him. Much to his surprise, it was not Ghirahim or Vaati. A pair of cat-yellow eyes stared at him greedily, just a thin stitch of color across a bar of milky olive skin, the rest of the person's face hidden by a midnight black scarf. The assailant danced backwards, a flash of baggy pink harem pants and a tight rose wrap, with long scarlet hair flying out and whipping in the wind.

Link raised his blade, only to be immediately grabbed by two similarly dressed women, who dealt hard kicks to the back of his knees. He stumbled and fell, blade clattering on the ground in front of him.

The original woman walked forward and Midna immediately snapped to the woman's side, jaw set. "Nabooru," she greeted.

Link recalled a few unpleasant mentions of Nabooru and gulped.

"Who is this one?" Nabooru asked, casually, strolling up to Link and examining him like a piece of meat.

"I'm an Advisor-"

Immediately, Nabooru hissed, teeth setting a bone-chilling smile, lacking in any empathy or compassion. "Well, well, well." Link stole a quick look at Midna, who looked absolutely mortified, as if to say _why couldn't you keep quiet? _Nabooru leaned down to Link and laughed. It was so, so familiar to him-

_"The Advisor in Green," the man bellowed, a sickening smile spreading across his face. He raised his own blade, a broadsword easily as wide as he was, and Link ducked low, barely missing a strike that would have sent him into the pile of headless bodies behind him-_

Link's eyes widened and he tightened his jaw, staring into Nabooru's eyes with all the courage he could muster, though it felt much too little, because Link could not deny the terror running through his veins, increasing with every heartbeat.

His heart jumped to his throat as he locked eyes with Midna, who stood tensely behind Nabooru, and dread flooded her face as she realized the recognition on his.

"We're not too friendly to servants of the scum Princess around here," Nabooru whispered, unsheathing a blade at her side-

Midna, in a flash, clamped her hand down on Nabooru's shoulder, who froze. A warning. Nabooru was tall, but Midna towered over her, eyes more on fire than her hair. "I don't think you're in any position to take out Zelda's Advisors. _Especially _when they are with me."

Nabooru tilted her head, frowning at Midna and taking a step back. "_Really_, now."

"The little guy you dumped out in the desert decades ago," Midna said, recalling Nabooru's words. "He's wreaking havoc in Castle Town. He murdered one of my companions-you know, the Tall & Creepy one."

Nabooru laughed, eyes wild. "You pick any murderer off the streets of Castle Town and claim he is the Gerudo King-to-be? That is gutsy, even for a Princess of a realm of criminals."

Midna's fingers twitched and Link gulped nervously, feeling the pressure of two of Nabooru's guards and knowing that when Midna's fingers got twitchy, things usually caught on fire. "I know him," she said, shortly. "I've seen him. And I'm not an idiot."

"What's his name?" Nabooru challenged.

"Ganon," Midna shot back.

Nabooru's expression fell, just briefly, but she quickly placed a smirk on her lips. "I don't know who that is."

Midna smiled, an idea dawning upon her and words forming slowly and aggressively. "Now...a member of _your _tribe killed a visiting foreigner-_my _citizen, Zant. Princess Zelda is handling the investigation into his murder, and you're holding her Advisor at knifepoint. Do you want the entire force of Hyrule raining down hell upon you?" Nabooru was left speechless, and Midna laughed. "You're a woman, Nabooru...I hope there's enough logic in your head to get what I'm saying."

The Desert Leader's expression soured and she crossed her arms across her chest. "I thought you were a woman of your word," she said, sulkily. "Where is Vaati?"

Link wondered why on Earth the woman wanted anything to do with Vaati, but he remained silent.

"I'm sorry," Midna apologized, gesturing to the empty Mirror Chamber. "But that little deal of ours isn't going to happen. Vaati's head has a price on it."

"Who's bidding?" Nabooru inquired.

"Me."

The wind howled in the silence, sand crashing in thousands of grains to the ground, Link's heart pounding at the stalemate. He could _feel _the waves of pressure weighing down on his shoulders.

"We'll let the sham Princess' Advisor go," Nabooru said, "But there are no more deals. From now on, Princess Midna, we'll treat you just as we would treat any Hylian intruder...since that is clearly where your allegiances lie."

Midna shrugged. "Fine by me."

Nabooru backed up towards the staircase and the two Gerudo women that were holding Link immediately shoved him forward. Always on his feet, Link leapt up and placed his hand on the hilt of his blade that he had scraped up from the ground. He stood in front of Midna while the two women sauntered over to Nabooru, who crossed her arms.

"You won't last long against him," Nabooru muttered smugly. "The Gerudo King."

Midna snapped her fingers, the beginnings of a warp portal forming at her feet, engulfing Link's boots as well. "We'll take our chances," Link said, tipping his head up and smiling.

Nabooru, catlike and chilling, threw her head back and laughed. _So _much like Ganon, it sent shivers down Link's spine as Midna's warp spell consumed him, turning the duo into the black rain of magic.

/\/

They touched down in the Castle Courtyard, empty with the buzz of the day, and Link immediately stumbled to his feet, dizzily running into Midna, who exhaled a shaky laugh.

"I thought you were going to end up on her dinner plate," Midna smirked, clapping Link on the back.

"Thanks for the reassurance," he gasped, gulping in a breath of clean, cool air and leaning against a nearby tree.

Midna rolled her eyes. "I would have intervened. But you handled yourself pretty well, Short Stuff." She snapped her fingers, summoning the shrunken Mirror spell from her Shadow Storage for an instance. "And we got the second half."

"Do you think Vaati or Ghirahim will go and try to see if it's still there?" Link inquired.

Midna's eyes narrowed and she looked around at the walls of the Castle, surrounding them, casting shadows into the courtyard. It fell very silent as she held up a finger, breathing in and out, eyes scanning all over the darkness and light of the courtyard. "No," she said, finally. "They know we have it."

"Are they here?" He asked, rather casually placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, already gearing up for another possible stand off.

"They both were," Midna said, completely sure. "They were waiting for us. But they both just vanished."

"Positive?"

She threw Link a withering glare. "I'm pretty intune to their magic traces, Short Stuff. Don't ask the question."

Link shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure. Next time we're heading someplace that's hostile to Hylian society, give me a heads up." He briefly wondered what the Gorons would react to their presence like, but decided not to dwell on it. He gestured into the Castle. "Let's go let Zelda know we're back in one piece."

Moments later, the duo had been led out to the stables, where Zelda waited under the watchful eyes of two guards. Two beautiful mares, one white as snow and the other auburn-copper, had been saddled up and stood patiently waiting for riders.

Zelda looked at Midna, sliding a glance at the guards. It was a gesture that said _we'll talk later. _"So glad to to see you...I assume you found everything alright?"

"Yeah, just fine," Midna said cautiously.

"Then I hope you and my Advisor Link will have a pleasant trip to Kakariko."

Link narrowed his eyes, wondering why Zelda was suddenly dropping strange words and locations. He saw the wary glares of the guards who were present like hawks and wondered just how suspicious the Court was of her. Taking into account recent events, he suppose he couldn't blame them, but it disturbed him to see Zelda's hands tied in such a manner.

Midna remained sulkily silent and Link just shrugged. "One of the most beautiful places in Hyrule." He had never been to Kakariko, but it felt like a suitable thing to say. He walked over to the auburn mare and turned to Zelda. "What's this one's name?"

"Epona," Zelda smiled. "One of my personal favorite mares. Though she is very selective. If she's too much trouble, we can find you another horse."

Link approached Epona and held out his fingers-a peace offering. He had grown up on a ranch. Farm animals were second nature to him. The horse raised her head, observing Link, but seeming to be content with him. Link hoisted himself up onto the saddle and Zelda smiled.

"I should have known he'd be a natural at...things," Midna sighed, rolling her eyes and walking up to the white horse, which scuffed its feet as she approached. "What's this one's name? Big Ugly?"

Zelda grinned. "Marge."

"I like Big Ugly better," Midna commented, barely having to lean up to get on the horse, which neighed discontentedly at her. "Oh, shuddup, you stupid thing."

The Princess of Hyrule stepped back. "If you have the pack I gave you before, I think you're all ready to go. Best of luck...have a fun trip."

Link nodded. "We'll be back in a few days. Stay safe, Princess." He gently kicked Epona's side and she trotted out of the stable, out towards the training fields. He heard Midna yell at her horse and the stampede of heavy footfall behind him, knowing she was following close behind.

Still, as he cast a look back at the stables and saw the two guards place their hands on Zelda's arms and escort her back towards the Castle, he couldn't help but feel as though something were going to go very, very wrong.

/\\\

Vaati was perched like one of the many gargoyles upon the edge of the Castle's roof, staring downwards, listening carefully. He could sense Midna was here just a few moments ago...he spied an open window to a tiny balcony off of the Princess's chamber, and guessed that she had warped with the Advisor to the desert.

He ground his teeth together angrily. Ghirahim had him cornered-no way to return to the Twilight Realm, and no way to safely roam in the Light Realm. Midna and Link were firmly convinced that he had sabotaged his own spell for some nefarious scheme against them...and Ghirahim was on his own, which, as Vaati knew well, was his most dangerous state.

With no Princess to watch his every move, Ghirahim was a devilish creature, one that no one dared displease.

He held in a breath as Midna and Link appeared, materializing silently in a small storm of black specks. He wasn't conspicuous amongst the cold, gray, staring statues that dotted the roofline. Behind him, flat stone made this particular perch excellent for guards or archers. Luckily, his disappearance had made the Castle defense sparse, and no one ventured up onto his roof.

He was trying to make out what they were saying-a difficult task, considering that he was about four stories above them-when something danced across his field of vision, parallel to him on the opposite side of the building's roof . White and tall, it disappeared and then he cursed as Ghirahim appeared beside him, imitating his statuesque pose, blades in each of his hands.

"New clothes, I see, Vaati," Ghirahim mused, sending a sidelong glance at Vaati's stolen dusky gray cloak that was pulled heavily over his head, blocking his lavender hair from sight.

Vaati could tell that Ghirahim had the ability to kill him just as he was now, and gritted his teeth. Ghirahim was playing with his prey. "Yeah, I figured a change was in order after you put that price on my head."

Ghirahim laughed softly. "It was nothing personal. Things have begun to change here, and it seemed I needed a scapegoat."

Vaati imagined his sword, sitting dormant in his Shadow Storage, and held it in his mind, ready to defend himself. "You could have told the truth. No need to frame me. Zant is going to be on Midna's bad side either way."

Ghirahim ground his teeth together audibly, looking away from Vaati for a moment. "You are not supposed to know about that."

Vaati snorted. "Those two," he started, gesturing down into the courtyard at Midna and Link, "are the only ones that don't."

"Oh?" Ghirahim inquired, as though it was the most casual thing in the world. "I suppose I'll need it to remain that way."

With that, Vaati summoned up his sword just as Ghirahim's blades twirled at him, scraping mercilessly against the metal defense. Vaati stood in a sudden movement, pushing Ghirahim's weapons away, and laughed.

"You won't kill me," he said, gripping his vicious sword with both hands and batting away both of his opponent's swords with it. "That's not your style."

"Desperate times," Ghirahim murmured. He spared a stupid glance down at the courtyard, where Midna was beginning to concentrate on the nearby auras...

Vaati saw his opportunity and stepped onto the lip of the rooftop, leaning backwards until he fell, steadying himself in the air and knowing he would be wind by the time he fell one floor.

Ghirahim cursed and dove after him, both wicked blades swinging down at a fading Vaati.

He was far too late, and he faded into the winds as well.

Midna's eyes opened, far below him, and she said, "They both were. They were waiting for us...but they just disappeared."

**A/N: This chapter still feels unfinished/lackluster to me, but it needs to be posted. So, here it is! Chapter 23 is on the way and will hopefully be much better. Any feedback is really appreciated!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note: This was another unfinished-feeling chapter, mostly because it was written in parts and wasn't posted for a month or two. So, here it is!**

The night was dark and silent apart from the steady beating of horse hooves upon the hard grassland ground. The grasses had turned from green and smooth to golden and rough as the miles from the Castle increased, and the air had become less humid and more dry. No clouds marred the view of the night sky, and behind the two travelers was the monolith of a Castle; in front, the Death Mountain range.

"Hey, Short Stuff," Midna called, her voice bouncing with the movement of her horse. "Wait up."

Link slowed Epona slightly and continued along the dirt trail with Midna riding alongside him. The starlight bathed them each in blue light, with the grassland surrounding them looking like millions of blades of silver. Wind-cool and refreshing in the night-blew through occasionally, rustling the grass.

"Is something wrong?" Midna inquired, raising her eyebrows.

"No," Link said, clipping the word tensely.

Midna ground her teeth together. "Oh, I get it."

"What?"

"No, nothing, nevermind," Midna mumbled, imitating Link's recent replies to her attempts at conversation. Her horse whinnied.

Link groaned. "Fine. I find it really interesting that everyone else in your little group scattered and you had no idea that they were planning something. That's all."

Midna stopped her horse with a jerk of the reins. Link circled back, eyebrows raised but still standoffish.

"You think I did this?"

"No," Link said evenly. "I think you're letting things slip through the cracks. With Ghirahim."

"Oh _please_," she cried. "Had I known, he would be burnt to a crisp on your Castle's floor."

"You say that," Link said, "but I seriously doubt that you mean it."

"Short Stuff, I'll warn you now. You're crossing into some not-so-nice territory."

Link ignored her. "I don't doubt that you're in it for Hyrule. But he definitely wasn't-isn't. And things are falling into place a little too perfectly for him. You're more powerful, aren't you? Stronger? That's what he told me, that night at the bar. Why is it that you can't seem to predict his next move?"

"Hold up," she said. "I need a minute to contemplate the number of lines you crossed just now."

"You're not answering the question," Link grumbled, staring upwards at the night sky for a moment. He wondered how far they were from Kakariko, thinking they couldn't be more than an hour out.

"Ghirahim," Midna started, "is my friend. I get that he's strange and he tries to act like some evil mastermind, but that is not who he is. At least, that's not what I've seen him _do. _He's a prominent businessman in my realm. Rich guy, like one of your Nobles that are always hanging around the castle. He absolutely doesn't know me well enough to go spread rumors about me to you while I'm sloppy drunk. So sorry if he got his facts wrong."

"You're denying it, then."

"I didn't say that," she mumbled, angrily, kicking her horse to a trot and continuing on the path. Link rushed after her.

He opened his mouth to speak, but found no words that wouldn't aggravate her further. He cursed himself for picking a fight with Midna-no matter how friendly she was, she was still a leader of a foreign nation and he had stepped out of line. His soldier mentality shamed him, but his mind still wanted answers. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he said, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Let's just get there."

True to Link's prediction, Kakariko was only an hour away. The grassland turned to scrub-like terrain quickly, as though it anticipated the lack of rain, and the ground morphed into hills and plateaus. Soon enough, he could see the hulking black mass of the Death Mountain range, and its main summit. Directly in front of it, canyons and cliffs dotted the landscape. A few lights shone from windows in the tall cliff homes of Kakariko, and they were soon entering the village.

The first sign that he could see was for an inn, and that was where he and Midna stopped, tying their horses to the sign post. Midna pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and deeply over her face, looking up through her eyelashes to see and preventing prying eyes from seeing her fiery color scheme. The two entered, with Midna immediately leaning back against the wall to disguise her height.

The attendant, a middle aged woman, was sitting behind a wooden counter with a book. As they entered, she greeted them, "Welcome to Kakariko, fare's twenty rupees a night per person."

"That's fine," Link said. He paid up front and they were led into a large room, with cots lined up along the walls, separated by small wooden tables. Midna slipped into a bed within a minute, and the attendant left.

With a sigh, he started taking off his boots, sword, shield, and tunic, sparing a glance to Midna, who faced the opposite wall. He slid into the cot and fell asleep immediately, dreading morning's rapid approach.

/\\\

A faint glimmer of red, like a vibrant shooting star, caught Midna's eye as she danced on the edge of sleep. With a _plink_, something struck the wooden nighttable next to her.

A red diamond, about the size of her palm, pinned a small piece of paper into the wood. Stupidly, she attempted to yank the smooth and incredibly sharp metal out, slicing her palm. "Damn it," she muttered, shaking her hand off and placing her fingers along the flat planes and pulling, finally retrieving the note. The diamond faded into smaller ones that spiraled upwards, eventually fading into nothingness.

_Come to the roof._

Fury, hot and freely flowing, ripped through her, and she sprung from the cot, landing a few feet away softly upon her bare feet. Without a thought, ethereal light began to pool outwards from her dominant hand, downwards and then curving and shaping itself into a luminescent longsword. She grinned grimly, clutching its molten-hot hilt tightly, and then she began a slow and almost reluctant walk out of the barrack-like sleeping arrangements and gently, ever-so-quietly, through the front door of the inn.

Link did not need to see her kill her companion, she reasoned.

She danced up the dirt path that laced beside and above the inn on the cliff face, stopping at nearly halfway to the roof, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes for a small second. She could sense him—standing upon the peak of the shingles, staring up at the moon, his two wicked swords sheathed at his sides. She knew he would hold back when his opportunities arrived, and knew that it would be his undoing. This was a sad realization for her—that, though he would die as a traitor, he would die as a defenseless one, fighting his one vulnerability.

Midna opened her eyes and gripped her weapon harder, letting flames spread thinly over the blade, licking upwards towards the night sky. Her fury returned to her. She didn't need him to tell her where the other parts of the seal were hidden—she could find Vaati herself and interrogate him. She only needed to deliver the traitor what he deserved. She heard him stir and she faded into blackness, appearing behind him with a fierce smile upon her lips.

Quicker than a flash of lightning, she brought her blade down upon him and was met with the dull roughness of one of his swords. He had turned to her now, smirking, all confidence as the traitor he was-

She threw her other hand out, a tornado of inferno flying at him, singeing up his sword arms and leaving no mark on his stony skin. He winced as it blazed into nothingness and then cut at her, curved blades only meeting her own defending sword. As they danced unsteadily on the rooftop, he began to speak over the sound of metal clashing.

"This is simply a misunderstanding," he stated, dipping himself backwards to avoid a glowing fireball. He grimaced as she forced one of his swords from his hands, cutting deeply into his forearm.

"Just hold still while I _kill _you-" she cried, jamming her sword forward into what was previously his unprotected abdomen. He manifested behind her and she heard the slice of his sword, coming vertically at her shoulder, before she realized that she had caught it with her bare hand reflexively. The blade glimmered with her flames and she gritted her teeth, gripped it as hard as she could, and threw it forwards, out of Ghirahim's grip.

He didn't look so smug as he lit his hands in shimmering purple, a sight Midna had never seen him do before—which did not help her as she fought him—and then he thrust them out _at_ her incoming sword, catching it in midair with all of its force and then flipping _over_ her, like some sort of acrobat.

Midna thrust her blade at him again, meeting a readied hand. He captured her sword and in one final movement, he snapped. Diamonds encrusted the blade and then disappeared into the sky with her weapon.

Ghirahim laughed, and she lunged at him, hands gripping his throat and burning into the flesh there. He tumbled over, and they rolled off of the roof onto the dirt path, hitting the cliff face. Midna, dizzied by the fall, loosened her grip and was sent flying into the rock a few feet away from Ghirahim, who was collapsed in a similar manner against the wall of dirt and stone. Weakly, they both clenched their hands and immobilized the other in a battle of wills.

"As...I...was...saying," Ghirahim huffed, struggling to breathe against Midna's containing spell, "This...is...a...misunderstanding."

"You _traitor!_" Midna hissed, finding enough breath to speak coherently. "You filthy _liar!_ I _will_ kill you!"

"That, too, dearest-" at the word, Midna's spell strengthened momentarily, crushing the air from him- "is a misunderstanding. I left to find Vaati, not to escape from any wrongdoing that I committed."

"Oh, yes," Midna spat, "and I'm sure you found him and had a nice long chat about how you were going to lock me out of my own realm."

Ghirahim, with all of the audacity in the world, rolled his eyes at her. "I almost caught him, but some insignificant guard sent him to the wind, again."

"I don't believe you for a fucking second!"

Ghirahim laughed. "Then what do you suppose I did? How would I have shattered the seal? I have been at your side for this entire journey, and I have no desire to take the Twilight Realm for myself."

Midna was silent for a moment before her resolve weakened and she allowed herself to think through and rationalize Ghirahim's words and actions. By leaving, he admitted some sort of guilt...but not necessarily guilt that implicated his involvement in the shattering of the seal. He spoke the truth when he claimed he didn't want her realm, she could see that...

"Why did you leave?"

His smile turned to a frown. "I truly despise these light dwellers. I have no desire to follow orders from any princess besides my own ruler and _especially _despise that worthless Advisor. On my own—on our own—we could find Vaati and go back to the Twilight Realm for a small while-"

She understood what he was saying, up until his conclusion. "Go back?"

He leaned back against the mountain face, eyes rolling lazily to glimpse Midna's hard glance. His lips curved into a smug and content smile as he tapped his fingers on the hard line of his jawbone. "Dearest," he started, pausing to listen to the word, drawing it out, liking how it sounded, "perhaps we should instead focus our energy and precious time on a worthy cause. Like finding Vaati and leaving this place...for a few months."

Midna ground her teeth together. "I don't know if you forgot," she started, "but I'm running the show here, and _you_ listen to _me._"

His smile disappeared. He unclenched one of his hands and Midna did the same, and he flashed to her side, sitting, his body bordering hers. Too close for her. She snapped, "Stop that."

The sound rang through the midnight air, filling the darkness with the command.

** "**My, my, there's no need to become irritated with me," he mused, not moving.

The Twilight Princess only sighed.

** "**As you know, I'm simply thinking logically. Hyrule is surely costing us more than it's worth."

** "**Really? How much are their lives worth? Because that's what they're fighting for," Midna spat. She snapped her head around to glare at him.

** "**Surely not as much as yours is," was his reply.

** "**Who are you to judge that? What is _wrong _with you?"

He crossed his arms, apparently sullen. "It is the truth," he claimed, the blackness of his eyes showing her reflection.

Midna stared at him. Ghirahim stared at her.

** "**I've only heard and seen what you've wanted me to."

** "**Pardon me, dearest?"

** "**You're a liar."

Ghirahim gritted his teeth, face becoming expressionless for a moment before it changed to a sullen frown. His Twilight Princess was stubborn—he knew that—but persuading her to change her alliances was far harder than he would have liked. "I don't pretend to be anything but what I am, dear Midna," he cooed, voice sickly sweet. Midna closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, they were full of a fury that had not been there before. "What are you, then? A businessman, a demon, a Twili, a noble?" All traces of her usual humor were wiped clean from her face and words. Ghirahim begun to worry. "I don't know who the hell you are."

Anger—fierce, unrestrained, deadly anger—bubbled up into peals of delighted-sounding laughter, a wild eyed smile gracing his features. He stood, doubling over, disappearing in a shock of red and gold diamonds to land on the peak of the roof, standing, and reappeared, again next to Midna.

** "**Oh, my dearest Twilight Princess," he nearly shouted, injecting amusement into his voice, "you dare call me a liar."

Midna sucked in a short breath a felt her palms turn fiery, then cyan with heat. Her scars glowed brightly as she shut her eyes. She did not move, her back rigid, face in shadow. She seemed to know what he would say next. Ghirahim observed her, a grin dancing across his lips.

** "**All of your problems that you so trustingly disclosed to me...they so quickly faded, as though they never existed. It _was_what you wanted, dearest. Are you too fearful to show your true colors as I have?"

Midna's eyes snapped open, glowing like flames in the blackness. She snapped her head to the side to glare at him, hands clenched into fists at her sides. She braced her back against the cliff face and stood, leaning forward angrily. Ghirahim stared at her smugly. "I never asked you to do _anything_!"

More laughter. "Is that how you'll justify yourself? You needn't try. A few small clans who opposed the main rule, a few pesky judges who dared violate the code of the Twili, a few mages who had gotten too powerful...my gifts to you do add up." The Twilight Princess did not reply. He continued, "I _am_proud of the Abintra clan. They put up such a show, though they didn't stand a chance..."

** "**Damn you, I don't know what you're-"

** "**I, dearest Midna, am only showing you what _you_did. I was the catalyst. All of them would have been sentenced to prison or worse, but with such great cost to you! I never did expect a thank you, but I see that you are grateful."

He appeared on the roof again, a clash of metal and whiteness. "I suppose you'll want to be alone, to mull over my idea," he mused. "We certainly could find a way back to our realm while we wait for this one to fall. Perhaps I could act as the catalyst yet again."

Again, she said nothing, and he snapped, appearing in front of her, _on _her. He kissed her lips and ran a finger along her jawline, slowly and deliberately. In a flash, before she could think to react, he was gone, his voice the only reminder of his presence.

** "**Forget Hyrule, dearest, and join me."

Link groaned, stretching out in the cot. Sunshine was filtering in from the window on the far narrow end of the room, which had a picturesque view of the village. He sat up and slicked a few stray stands of hair from his face. He was surprised that Midna wasn't awake-she was always up with the sunshine. Her sleeping form, silhouetted under a blanket, faced away from him.

He figured that he might as well get up and get something to eat, considering the long day he and Midna were bound to have. He stood and quietly dressed, grabbing his sword and shield and heading out of the room. The attendant directed him to a small bakery-like place where he purchased some rather unfamiliar food and brought it back.

Midna was awake, sitting up in her cot with a new outfit on. Having noticed the heat outside, she appeared to be wearing a pair of knee-length short blue trousers and a black sleeveless shirt which both looked to be cotton-like. Her pair of gloves from days ago were also part of the ensemble.

She noticed him looking at her and shrugged. "We're going hiking."

"I brought breakfast, since you were still sleeping," Link said, handing her one of the unusual items. "I have no idea what any of it is."

Midna laughed for a moment, then yawned.

"That's weird," Link commented. "You're never tired in the mornings."

"I couldn't sleep," she said, quickly. She pondered his familiarity with her. "Short Stuff, it's weird you know how I am in the morning."

He shrugged. "Comes with the territory, I guess. Eat up. We have a huge day coming."

/\\\

"So you're saying the inspectors never showed?" Link shouted, jogging after the Goron mine manager, whose huge steps rocked the metal pathway that trailed above the masses of workers below. He wiped sweat from his brow and followed the manager into a large cave-like room at the end of the path.

Midna followed behind him, her height not overly apparent amongst the numbers of Gorons, who stood at six feet tall and above. The Goron chuckled heartily, turning to face Link and Midna and gesturing for them to sit on a flattened rock against the wall.

Walking forward, he gestured to a large scroll upon the wall. "This is the work of the inspectors. They've only walked around the area, mapping out the mines and the town. There is nothing written here regarding labor or materials. They've been quite rude, too, always going one way or the other and not caring about the schedule we work hard to maintain. Not so sure I would have hated the Country Guard more, Advisor, between you and me."

"That's...bizarre. Where are they staying?" Link asked, eyes narrowing. Zelda had mentioned nothing about maps of the mines-there were plenty already in existence, sitting in the Hylian Library at the castle.

"Damned if I know. They show up every few days to yell at Kurn, the other floor manager. He keeps on complaining about being blackmailed by Mastes into doing the damn audit."

"You haven't heard, then?" Midna interrupted. "Mastes was leaking information to the Rosu-whatevers. He's in jail."

The Goron's eyes bulged, stone face somehow becoming more severe. "We've heard nothing of this!" He boomed, smashing a fist down upon the wall, stones shattering in a fine sand.

"Nothing?" Link asked. "That's incredibly unusual. All of the updates regarding Castle Town have been sent. Have you received any?"

"None!" He huffed. "Should have figured that the Castle would try to cut every other major town out of the news and keep us in the dark-"

After apologies were made for the apparent mail mishap, Link and Midna exited the mines, reaching the main hot spring on the mountain. While it was usually a major tourist destination, only a few Hylians were soaking by the bar, which was manned by a younger Goron. The work day was coming to an end, with Gorons filing out of the mines and down into Kakariko.

"That's so strange, about the mail," Link mused, kicking at some stray rocks on the downward-sloping path back to the village.

"You talk like a politician when you're pretending to be one. It sucks, by the way," Midna notified him. "'Strange' and 'whatnot'."

"Okay, fine. It's weird. I'm worried."

"Why are you worried? Someone probably forgot to check it for too long or forgot who was supposed to do it. Happened in my Realm."

Link opened his mouth to reply, but immediately closed it, his arm flying out to pull Midna back underneath the tunnel that they had just exited. "Rosulyla. Right there."

He pointed at a ledge that overlooked the entirety of Death Mountain, the mines, and the village. Midna bit her lip. "Why is he out in the open like that? Let's go get him-" she started, about to dissolve and appear next to the man, but Link shook his head vigorously.

"There are more. They're _everywhere_-"

Fire arrows rained down, like some kind of eruption from the mountain, and Gorons and Hylians scattered. Cries rang out and Rosulyla poured from the interior of the mines, blades gleaming, bombs in hand to dispatch Gorons.

"Shit."


End file.
